I may be getting help taking care of my grandmother.

I feel weak, and disappointed asking for outside help to take care of my grandmother. Throughout the years I’ve asked for help from family when it came to taking care of Grams and it was always as if they never listed, and even one of her children offered to take care of Grams only if I paid $30 a day, you know for drug money. Yeah…her own mother. I kindly refused that one offer.

So, today I asked for outside help and this is the first time I’ve asked for it since I became my grandmother's full-time caregiver.

I feel embarrassed that I even had to ask an outside company for help taking care of my grandmother, but honestly, it’s needed. I’m looking at eight hours a week, which will be spread out during the week. I hope that I am able to be a better mother to my children and a better wife to my husband with this deserved break if it happens. 

So...What is a mini-stroke?

Today I wanted to write about strokes. My grandmother had a mini-stroke a year ago, and it brought about some changes in the household.
First I want to write about Transient Ischemic Attack is also is known as a TIA or "Mini-stroke." This is what my grandmother had.
When a stroke occurs there is A temporary decrease in the blood supply to the brain which causes the following symptoms:

• Dizziness
• visual changes
• weakness, numbness in one or more limbs
• difficulty swallowing

The TIA only lasts a few minutes to a few hours

A Cerebral Vascular Accident or a CVA  is a Stroke that is caused by a clot in a blood vessel or bleeding inside a blood vessel in the brain.
A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or ruptures and its also known as a bleed.
After a stroke there may be Behavioral changes which are:

• Depression
• Tearfulness
• personality shifts
• apathy

Sources: 

1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20350113
2. http://www.stroke.org/understand-stroke/what-stroke
3. https://www.medicinenet.com/stroke_symptoms_and_treatment/article.htm
4. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/7624.php

We are not Mother Teresa; Were Caregivers

If you are a caregiver like me, you have maybe you heard the following statements from other people.

“Get her a babysitter.” When someone says something like this, it questions my friendship to them. One, my grandmother is not a baby and two no one knows her needs, and her schedule like I
“Why did you sign up for this?” I did not; it became a part of my
“You get to stay home all day.” Yes, I need to, my grandmother falls, she will not remember to take her pills, and she will not do most things without reminding. Yes, I stay home all day, but it is not what you


Today's post is for my fellow caregivers:

Being a caregiver is not easy, many people outside of your house will develop an opinion without knowing any information. People will always have an opinion, but will never help. You can see this when you ask for help, and people pretend you did not even ask.

Honestly being a caregiver is sad. Caregivers often feel abandoned, because they often care for everyone else, while no one acknowledges them. Being a caregiver is physically and emotionally draining, as I have endured many muscle sprains trying to pick up my grandmother after a fall.

We are not Mother Teresa; we get mad frustrated, we cry, and we wonder. It is normal to fall apart while keeping everything together. It is all a learning process; then we just learn as it comes along.

Advice:

Learn how to say no, an example of this is when my grandmother would continually make me get her lottery tickets. I know it is something so small, and I should be able to get it done in five minutes or so, but when she wanted lottery tickets two to three times a day, I refused altogether. I felt like a horrible person but then I realized she needs me, she needs to eat, drink, take a shower and get up among other things. You need to pick and choose your battles. It is okay to say no. Be a sheriff, get things done, create order. It’s the only way you’re going to get out of this alive when its all over.

Changes As We Get Older

Today I wanted to write about changes that come about with age.  Let’s first begin with the  Demographics of Aging:

Americans are getting older and living longer
life expectancy varies by gender and race
excess cost growth with increasing population aging
Unfortunately, we all will get older, and as we do, the risks for some issues get higher as well, and that brings me to the next section

The Leading Causes of Death in Older Adults are:

• Heart Diseases
• Malignant Neoplasms
• Cerebrovascular diseases
• COPD
• Alzheimer's
• Diabetes

As we get older, there are cardiovascular changes that occur in our bodies. We often get increased blood pressure, slower heart recovery rate, and a diminished response to stress. Respiratory changes also occur, with an increased residual volume, a decrease in muscle strength, vital capacity, and endurance. There is also a decreased gas exchange, which diffuses capacity.

The Integumentary System changes that occur are a decreased intestinal fluid, muscle tone, sensory reception and glandular activity. There is a diminished secretion of natural oils and perspiration. The Reproductive System Changes in  Females is narrowing of the vagina, decreased elasticity, decreased vaginal secretions and slower sexual response. In males, the changes in the reproductive system are testes that are no longer firm, decreased sperm production and slower sexual response.

Musculature System Changes include loss of bone density, loss of muscle strength, and degenerated joint cartilage.

Listed below are some more changes that occur as we get older:

1. detrusor instability (urge incontinence)
2. urethral dysfunction (stress urinary incontinence)
3. decreased sense of thirst,  smell, and taste
4. decreased salivation
5. difficulty swallowing food
6. reduced cerebral circulation (faint, loses balance)
7. cant focus on close objects
8. inability to tolerate glare
9. difficulty adjusting to light intensity changes
10. high-frequency hearing difficulty
11. Presbycusis which is the decreased ability to hear high-pitched tones that naturally begins in midlife as result of irreversible inner ear change

Sources:

1. https://medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/winter07/articles/winter07pg10-13.html
2. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-art-and-science-aging-well/201705/how-does-our-body-change-we-age-part-1
3. https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/tc/healthy-aging-normal-aging#1
4. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/healthy-aging/in-depth/aging/art-20046070

How old is old?

An elderly person is over the age of sixty-five. It is unfortunate, but aging is an unavoidable, steady progressive process that we all ultimately will go through. There is a branch called gerontology, which is the study of the aging process. Those who work in Geriatrics emphasis on health and disease of the elderly. There are also subfields of gerontology, which comprise geriatrics, social gerontology, gerontological rehab and more.

There are diverse stages when it comes to aging, and they are

Antepartum
Neonate
Infancy
Toddler
Child
Adolescence
Young Adult
Middle Age
Older Adult
Old Age
There are also sub-categories for the elderly such as

Young Old: Age: 65-74
Middle Old: 74-84
Old-Old: 85+

Sources:

• https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter13-aging-and-the-elderly
• http://www.gecac.org/programs-and-services/elderly-and-aging
• http://www.aging-parents-and-elder-care.com

The Sandwich Generation at 21: Club Sandwich

I am a part of the “sandwich generation.” The  “sandwich generation” is a group of people who care for aging parents while supporting their children.

The Pew Research Center states that one of each eight Americans who are between the age of  40 to 60 is raising a child and also caring for a parent

Some more stats (via the US Census Bureau)

• 7-10 million adults care for their relatives from a long distance.
• Americans who are 65 years old or older will double by the year 2030, to over 70 million.
• There are diverse variations, and they are listed below, but I wanted first to say that I am part of the club sandwich. I am 30 years old, taking care of two small children and my 93-year-old grandmother.

Kinds of sandwiches:

• Traditional sandwich generation refers to those sandwiched between aging parents who need care as well as helping their children.
• Club Sandwich refers to those in their 50’s or 60’s sandwiched between aging parents, adult children, and grandchildren. On the opposite end; it is where I fall in the mix, and it can also refer to those in their 30s and 40s, who have young children, aging parents, as well as grandparents.
• Open faced sandwich refers to anyone who is involved in the elder care.
• Sandwich generation was originally coined by Dorothy Miller and Elaine Brody in the year 1981 when they began their research.

It is some pretty thought-provoking stuff to look into if you are interested.

Sources:

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/01/30/the-sandwich-generation

http://www.sandwichgeneration.com

Benefits and Risks of Using The Internet

There are risks of using the internet which include dangers of internet addiction, privacy risks, and online crime such as sex crimes, and fraud. Although there are risks of using the internet there are also great benefits of the internet such as online education & remote occupations, and finding entertainment.

Adolescents use the internet more than any other age group and are considered an important part of many adolescents’ day to day lives. Now it’s known that ninety-one percent of adolescents in the United States report occasional or daily Internet use (Gross, 2004).

References:
Gross, E. (2004). Adolescent Internet use: What we expect, what teens report. Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 633-649.