Lily and I spent a couple of hours at Grandma's new place at Coventry. Of course, she was happy to see us, especially since she had been sad that Harold left this morning and she didn't know if he would be back today or later in the week. She told me that he had to sneak out of the building this morning because he had slept over again and he was afraid that he would get in trouble since he is not a resident at Coventry. I told her it sounded like they were acting like naughty co-eds.
She had the blinds drawn in the all of her apartment; she said that the sun was too bright for her eyes (it was quite overcast). She had a soap opera on the television and Lily was immediately taken in by "the stories". I guess there was some wedding about to take place and Lily didn't want to miss it when I suggested Gma give us a tour of the building :-) Grandma walked us around the first floor showing us the cafeteria, etc. I had her lead the way back to her room - she got turned around and asked me to show her the way to her room.
The kitchen was already pretty messy, mostly with chocolate smudges all over the counter, and several glasses of Boost/Ensure in the sink. Dave and Colleen, you will get to see some of the chocolate smudges on the birthday cards she had me mail for to you two today ;-)
There were no cleaning products or dish soap anywhere, no way to clean anything; plus she was out of Boost and asked for more. So I left Grandma and Lily to watch their "stories" and quickly ran to Dan's to grab some supplies. Everyone feels more positive and happy when their surroundings are clean. I put the supplies under the kitchen sink, so don't hesitate to wipe off counters and clean dishes whenever you visit Gma. She thanked me several times for doing so. I also think we should get her vacuum from the Magna house so that we can vacuum a few times a week. It needed a vacuuming today. I know that they come in to clean the place once a week, but I imagine keeping it tidy through the week will be a help to Grandma.
I remember watching All My Children in the summer time with Gram; she loves her soaps.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, I think the Boost thing can be an issue with Gram. She has not been going to the cafeteria for meals because she is shy and doesn't feel like she knows many people yet.
But her mental health is very much tied to her nutrition and the more we can encourage her to eat her regular meals, the better she will be.
She'll always be a chocoholic though... some things never change :)
Thanks for the information, Cam. The information about the Boost is exactly the sort of reason we all need to use this blog. I didn't know that the Boost was already a recognized problem by other family members (though I did think it weird that she seemed to be getting all her nutrition from a drink). Matt's grandma had the same problem last winter and spring with her Ensure drinks. Once we were able to get her to the cafeteria for every meal there was an obvious improvement in her moods and memory.
ReplyDeleteI think she didn't go to the cafeteria this morning because Harold was there and she was afraid they would get "caught". I'm guessing they both just had a couple of Boosts for breakfast.
I actually bought her some yogurt and bananas, as well. I told her she had to eat a banana before she had another Boost.
I've also been confused by the prevalence of chocolate around her. I thought she was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of years ago.