My weekend blog is about taking care of our own physical and mental health. Are you caring for your spouse and neglecting your own health? Not a good idea. What are you all doing to take care of yourselves?
I have a caregiver 2 times a week for 4-5 hours Try to exercise (water or walk) 4-5 times per week Cooking Light Supper Club, once a month, going on 6 years Dinner once a month with girlfriends Try to make time for my self, when I can. Open my mouth for help most years I have able to get away week and family have cared for Gene....no luck this year! support group 2x per month education about AD
Eat strictly organic food which benefits us both Ballroom dance classes once a week- again to benefit both of us Folkdancing once a week( on my own) and sometimes lunch afterwards with friends from the group Aquastretch once a week Regular chats with good friends and great new on-line friends Spending time with my mom, shopping, playing scrabble, eating out- this happens at least every 2 weeks Read all I can about AD and attend info sessions when they are available This may sound great but many days it doesn't feel so!
Husband, kids & myself will all be running a half marathon in a few months. I have to admitt I've been so busy working that I haven't been running as many miles as I should be. I'm planning on starting a rigorous schedule this week.
Jeff is still in great physical shape. The only change I see is that he's taken a couple of unexpected falls recently. Fortunately, he rolls really well. So we still walk a lot, and occasionally get out in the canoe which is an excellent upper body workout.
As for things I need to do for just me... That's where writing comes in. I'm at the very beginning stages of my fourth book. (#2 has gotten some nibbles, but hooked no publishers...yet, #3 is just starting the slush pile rounds.) My very real belief that pursuit of writing is my calling in life (other than taking care of people!) is really what keeps me ticking.
We'll just have to see about the future. I still like to delude myself with the notion that Jeff will stay on his current plateau.
I am so impressed with what all of you do. I seem to just go to doctor's visits, clean the apartment, go shopping and be with Gord. There are now the psychiatrist visits so that is big excitement. I must figure out how to do more stuff.
What do I do to stay in good shape? Well, I work hard around the house, yard, my shop and control my eating. M and I eat low fat, low cholesterol, low sugar foods, lots of fresh fruit and whole wheat breads. We don't drink anything stronger than fruit juice. I stand 5'9" and weigh 135 pounds. I get lots of sleep at night and I get up at 4 or 5 am to start my day.
I call on an eye doctor, urologist, cardiolist, dentist and internal doctor through the year. It's about time for flu shots.
I maintain a web site for a local civic group. I collect old picture postcards of my hometown from Ebay as they appear. I just changed from Windows to Ubuntu Linux recently.
Our son and his family visit with us every week or two and that is a great pleasure for us to visit with the grandchildren.
I would like to get away from the house and do some personal things, but it just isn't possible. So, I create my own little world with hobbies and the Internet. My ongoing family history scrapbook has a lot of detail written into it by me. My descendants will wonder "Now, how did he do that?"
Well, my goodness, I'm the one who started this discussion, and I'm seeing that you all are doing much better in the "taking care of yourselves" department than I am. Barbarakay and Inge made me realize that I need to get out with girlfriends more often, and the rest of you put me to shame with hobbies and exercise.
Monday, I'm calling up the "girls" and making some lunch dates. I'm also going back (okay, it's for the third time, but at least I'm going) to my Trim Club. (It's like Weight Watchers, but they don't make you weigh and measure the food).
jang, I'm with you on the doctor visits for hubby - that takes up a LOT of time.
Just a quick note to say I'm a little sore but content this morning. We had our first dance class after a 2 months break and it went better than expected. There were 30 couples in the class which would have been quite overwhelming if we had not known about ten from earlier classes. My husband was happy to see them though I noticed he was not his chatty self with them- language declining. We did the quickstep, which used to be his favourite dance in his youth and it went not too badly. Our teachers are aware of O's probems and make an effort to give us some extra attention when they can. I just thought I would share something positive for a change! Inge
Today was a good example of things I do to keep sane, etc. Morning - worked in Free Clinic - chance to do my profession (medicine) without hassle from insurance companies and the government. (DW in day care center) Afternoon - farewell party for a neighbor who is moving. Got a chance to talk with many neighbors we hadn't seen lately. (DW with me, but did not join in conversation) Early evening - "happy hour" here at our retirement home. 10 people sitting around a table having wine, etc. and various "goodies" and talking about many recent events. (DW part of group) Dinner at retirement home - sat with another couple. Discussions about all sorts of things. (DW also at table)
I also try to go to the YMCA 3 days a week for exercise.
DH goes to daycare 5 days a week (good for my mental health) Workout class 2 to 3 days a week Have my hair styled and nails done (mental health) Try to eat well Go out with girlfriends (mental health) Keep up with my doctor's appointments Go shopping (mental health) Support Group, Alzheimer's related advocacy activities, keep up with AD education, etc. (mental health) Keep up our pre-AD social life (mental health)
Well, you can see I do a lot more for my mental health than physical. Both are important, but I really try to keep myself in a good frame of mind!
Today a neighbor I didn't know came to teach me how to use the automatic car wash that is not too far from here. That was something my husband did, the car was crusty with salt and needed to be cleaned. There are no full surface car washes here, where you give the car to them and it comes out clean and dry, so I needed to learn how. The neighbor group that tries to take my husband out once in a while so I get some respite arranged for this very nice man to help me.
It turned out that using the machine to buy the services I wanted wasn't a problem. I expected it to be. The problem was that with my car stopped, and in park, it felt like it was moving. I went nuts, but because I wasn't alone, it was OK, and I'll be OK the next time on my own because with that car wash system I don't have to have my eyes open to use it.
So believe it or not getting the problem of getting the car washed was a mental health issue. It has been driving me nuts since my husband stopped driving last May. And having that nice man in the car was also a mental health issue. He talked with me while we were waiting.
Although I have to miss about every other class (due to not always able to have a caregiver/sitter) about the ONLY thing I do outside the home, and away from DH is attend an aerobics class for 50 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays. YUP, if I was able to work some, and could afford it I'd get a caregiver in for a few more hours a week so I could also get out for walks, or lunches with Sis and SIL. Sis lives an hour away, and I'd also love to just pop in and visit her at her home.
I have a c-5 Radiculapathy, and my right arm is greatly affected. 3 years ago I had epidural injections and they helped greatly. I'm pretty certain that is what is flaring up again, but just making an appt to see my primary, and going for PT or more epidurals seems like an insurmountable task right now.
Well, my exercise program is not going so good. Started over a week ago and haven't been back since, due to weather or son in saw taking dh to therapy. Was going tomorrow but our road is too bad. I think I will see about doing some here at home. Anyone having positive of negative news to report about exercise?
I hate to keep rubbing it in about our glorious Florida weather <grin>, but I've been doing a pretty good job of holding up my end of my pact with marsh to exercise at least three days each week. Our son got home too late this evening for me to get in my usual 2 1/2 mile walk, so I was only able to walk about twenty minutes before being overtaken by darkness, but last evening I got out earlier and noticed new deer tracks that hadn't been there the day before. I really need to work an inch or two off my waistline -- all that good food over the holidays plus other "comfort food" that I seem to be succumbing to more now have combined to make my size 34 jeans a bit tight -- I've got the top button loose right now...
Imohr, all I'm doing is physical therapy exercises, but because I can do them at home, I do them. I've begun to add to them, and do multiple sets. I re-learned how to do them from watching YouTube. I knew they were OK because as soon as I saw them I remembered being given those same exercises by more than one therapist.
And I've been carrying a pedometer. To get to what I think of as my required steps, I do what my daughter calls laps. I walk up and down the house, round and round the kitchen table, in and out of the bedrooms. I actually managed to get some outdoor walking in last week, and I was able to go further outside than I have been in months, just from the indoor walking. Walking outside, for some unknown reason, is harder on me.
Perhaps what you need to do it figure out some kind of indoor program you can carry out even when you can't get out. These days I almost never can get out, so it is what I realized I had to do.
Because of my physical issues, I need to start slow and not try to do too much too fast, I went to YouTube and put the words "physical therapy" in the search box.
There are literally dozens from Expert Village, but it is easier to find them and access them at YouTube. The ones I found from them were posted by real physical therapists, but some are easier to do than others.
Other search terms that work are "senior exercises" and "chair exercises" but that mostly gives you samples of programs on DVD that the person leading the exercises wants to sell to you. I did find one set of chair exercises where he gave a 6 minute sample that was well over my current ability. I'm going back there in a few weeks and try his 6 minutes out. I have a funny feeling I'm buying his DVD once I can do the sample.
I also tend to check out the videos offered as "More of the same" on the side of the video window when I go into YouTube, no matter what I'm looking for. I've searched out Photoshop tutorials, digital scrapbooking, quilting, knitting and several other kinds of things, and it is amazing what is sitting there free. The complete Thintuition program is sitting there, for example.