Alzheimer's Blogging:

I don't know if anything I write is being read by anyone. But if it is, I hope I am helping you out. It is hard to believe that it will be New Years Eve in just a few hours. I am working on the ambulance tomorrow, but in the late evening I will be getting off of work and will get to spend watching the New Year come in with my husband and a couple of my kids and grandchildren. Now it is time to make New Year Resolutions. It is time to organize and list our objects of desire. Maybe it will be a new job, or maybe a new addition to the family.

I like to go through my pictures, and remember the fun times I had with my father-in-law. The times he would come over and bring pizza and play board games with us until we turned on the TV just before midnight, and count in the New Year.

I just want to share again the three things I think are most important if you are a care giver.
1) Find a good support group. Where ever you live, just check out Alzheimer's Association, and find the map, which you click on and than find your city and they will have a list of support groups.
2) Respite Care is very important. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of your loved one. There is all kinds of Respite care. They have adult day cares that you can drop them off for a few hours of the day. There is Nursing homes that will take Respite care for weekends or how ever long you may need the break. You may even find someone to come to your home and give you a break.
3) Hospice Care is very important as your loved one reaches the end of life. They can give you the moral support you need, and give you what you may need to help keep your loved one in a comfort state during their last hours.

Please let me know if I have helped you at all, or if I can do anything to help.
Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint of James A Rock Pub., Co.
www.mariefostino.com