Mom seems to be settling in now. She has found places for most of the stuff she brought from my sisters house but still has more to bring. Finally she has realized that she has one room and that it is not my room. The first week she would nap in our bed, even told the boys to get out one day when they were watching TV. We still find things in the wrong places and some of our stuff still finds its way into her room but we just put it back where it belongs and go about our business.
As I walked into her room the other day she was unpackiing some boxes and there was a book from our trip to Washington DC in 1963!! It is a book that Jacqueline Kennedy had done about the history of the White House, I loved that book as a child and I am delighted that she has it especially since I am planning a trip to DC with my grand daughter this summer. The strange thing about this is that my Mom has moved no less than ten, maybe twelve times since that trip to DC. Her belongings have gone from large four bedroom homes to a tiny condo to a 1000sq ft home to two rooms at my sisters and now to one room in my home - How is it that this particular book has made it through all these moves???
Since she has been at our house she has had only two full blown "panic/anxiety attacks" that I am aware of and she has had only three Zanac tablets. Now I do not attribute this to our care of her but more to her seeking attention. When she was at my sisters house she would have several a week, sometimes more than one or two a day. These attacks seemed to coincide with when Amy would be ready to leave the house. I don't really believe Mom did this conciously but none the less I think they are attention driven. We had to leave her alone one day this week for a couple of hours and she was screaming and hitting the wall when my husband came home, a Zanac calmed her down and she was fine soon after.
We had a visit from Mom's brother, my Uncle Tom this week. It was very nice to see him but Mom was some what confused and had a hard time following his conversation. They sat outside in the warm sun for a while and she seemed to be able to converse with him for a while. After he left she thought that it was her Dad that had been to visit.
Mom craves sweets and likes to eat every two hours or more. We try to get protien into her as much as we can along with fiber and fruit. I am trying to curb her intake of chocolate as I have determined that the caffiene affects her mood, it makes her weepy and if she has too many sweets she gets shakey and then wants more pills.
This is truly a learning process and Terry and I are working to keep her happy and healthy. My husband is an absolute saint!!