I'm not sure just where to begin. I've been getting visits from the nicest social workers. They are trying to teach me how to cope with my vision loss. There are so many tricks I would have never thought of on my own.
I have made arrangements for transportation and go back and forth to the pool 3X a week for water aerobics. I don't know what kind of shape I'd be in if I did't do them. I'm so crippled up with arthritis I can hardly walk. I simply cannot stand the pain of vacumming. I kow I should get someone in here to do it for me. Just haven't found the right person. I'll keep looking.
Then I had to get a root canal. And I told you I have sleep apnea and need a CPAP machine.
Combine all of this with worsening COPD and you have an individual that is hanging on by my fingernails.
DH is getting worse even with his meds. I don't know how long I'll be able to leave him alone when I go to the pool. So far, it's been ok. Except that now he's trying to take me on a guilt trip--saying things like "You are always gone; you never stay home anymore; I miss you so much; who's going to fix my lunch if you aren't here?"
Mawzy, you have so much to deal with. And doing so bravely. Yes, you MUST continue with the pool aerobics. You really need more help. Is day care an option in your area? I have the same problem with DH being marginally all right to leave for a while, but not liking it one bit. He hates me to leave him and is usually standing out by the gate when I get home. I'm looking into day care for two days a week, but it'll be a while before a place opens up in the facility I'm looking at. Focus on GETTING MORE HELP. Someone to clean for you and be with DH while you're gone???
Oh, dear Mawzy.. I can feel down when I don't have HALF your problems! What meds are YOU taking? I get the feeling you're saying you should be fine, people are being nice to you - but you're feeling down anyhow. Get help! And give Noche a hug.
I've found that I can't take NSAIDS for my damknee, and I don't think Tylenol is good for my tummy either. The ortho prescribed Tramadol, which has been a blessing for me (I take it only when I really need it). According to Wikipedia one must watch out for addiction. And also according to them it can give you a feeling of euphoria. And it does for me, just a little "taking the edge off" I've never taken or felt that I needed any anti-depressants or tranquillizers, except for a couple of useless weeks with Paxil - but I'll tell you, having that edge off really is nice. I'm going to ask the doctor for something now. The combination of my knee and my hot flashes really get to me - L. is the LEAST of my problems!
Mawzy, I am currently at where you end up when you used to be able to leave him for half an hour and you no longer can. Everyone is right. Ask those caseworkers (and yes aren't they nice people?) for help so you can still take care of yourself.
((Mawzy)) I am glad to hear you have people helping you adjust, I imagine it must be very difficult for you. I often think of you and wonder how you are managing. I agree with everyone else, you certainly could use some help. Sooner is always better. Ask that nice social worker who you can get to come help you, I am sure he/she knows. Keeping you in my thoughts ((hugs))
Thanks so much for your kind words. My friend asked me the other day what was the hardest thing to cope with. Without blinking an eye, I said: "If he would just leave my stuff alone." He keeps picking up stuff and moving it--hiding it. I spend half my time looking for it. I get so frustrated. I.E., I bought a half-pound of Black Forest sliced ham the other day for his sandwiches. I made ONE sandwich and the ham has disappeared. I don't see well enough and he is absolutely no help at all. He is so clueless. Just stands there and that annoys me. Today I found an opened can of cat food in the cupboard (smelling up the place) and the pkg of ham in the freezer. All wadded up. It'll take a week to thaw out and I have no idea what it'll be like by then.
Oh, well. Do you know how people with very low vision (legally blid) put toothpaste on their toothbrushes? Well prepare to be educated. I was so surprised. They squeeze the tube and put the toothpaste on the edge of the forefinger. Then wet the toothbrush and pick it up from the finger. You can feel it on your finger. Is that clever? or what?
I'll send you anoather lesson on my next epistle.
Thanks, again for the support. And, for those lovely 'cat people' out there, Noche is such a little love bucket. Funny! He goes out the back door. struts around the back yard and surveys his kingdom. DH and I are downstairs and feel someone staring at us. Look up and there's Mr. Noche paws up on the front window looking so sad because we're inside and he's outside. Go to the front door, let him in and he goes directly to the back door. He made a real game out of that yesterday--he must have done that 3-4 times until I got tired of it. Then he came in and took a nap on DHs lap. What a guy. So sweet.
Mawzy, keep the lessons coming, fascinating! Dh is not too bad about moving things at home but on a visit to my mother recently for a week we spent two days looking for his one and only jacket (he refuses to wear any other, year round). Finally found it in a closet in my mother's bedroom, used only for storing out-of-season clothes. He had hung it from one sleeve, from a pants hanger so I hadn't seen it the first two times I looked in there. Then I spent a day and a half looking for my glasses, which I don't wear all the time. After calling a store and a restaurant where I had been and resigning myself to the expense of new ones, HE found them, in an inside pocket of a blazer hanging in another out of the way closet. It's one of those items of clothing that someone has left in my mother's house and that she leaves hanging for anybody to use. DH had worn it to church. And put my glasses in the pocket, probably thinking they were his own. I HAD looked in the blazer, but it had more pockets than I was aware of.