I don’t have a fashion post for you today. Honestly, it’s not always easy for me to come up with fresh things to share in fashion. I love fashion, but it’s not such a passion that I wake up thinking about it. I have a closet full of clothes and need to do another cleaning out soon. So needless to say, fashion is not always my priority to keep up with. Bless those girls who do it every day, I don’t know how they keep up with it all.
So today, I thought I’d do a life update. I haven’t done one of those in awhile.
First, let me say I’m very concerned about our country. I don’t talk politics on here very much at all, but to say that we have a lot going on in our country is an understatement. I know that God is in control and my trust lies in Him, but there is so much we are all dealing with last year and this year. I think most of you know that I’m a conservative. I pray that God will see us through whatever we are going to face in the future. That might sound like a downer, but I have to put my trust in the one who knows it all, otherwise I’d go insane! I’ll just leave it at that for now.
We’ll start with mom and dad. This year has not been that easy for them either. Right after Mother’s Day, mom started having pretty severe back issues. We’ve been to several doctor appointments for her and they did a scan which showed many compression fractures, one area worse than others. The neurosurgeon did not think she was a candidate for any of the”plasty” treatments, where they inject a cement like substance into the back to stabilize an area. But they did send her to another specialist who also looked at the scan and gave the same answer. He told us it would be a guessing game trying to figure out just where the pain was coming from and that if he did stabilize one area, it could cause harm in another. So for now she’s going to rest at home and try to heal up. Her pain level is definitely better than it was the first 2 or 3 weeks this all started, so it looks like she is healing up some.
{This is an old pic and she’s not nearly as perky now.}
We may have to live with this new normal, but he said a steroid shot might help her if she wants to try that later on. For now, she is going to give it a couple more months and see how she feels then. She’s pretty stable now, she can get up and move around as needed and she’s using a cane, but when she tries to stand in the kitchen for very long, it really starts to hurt. She’s not getting outside like she used to. She was always so active even the last few years, but this is finally catching up to her.
{Mother’s Day this year, right before the back pain got worse.}
We have a lady that we know, Sheila, coming in 2 or 3 times a week as needed. and she has been a God send. She helps mom with chores, bakes cakes and cooks some meals so that they have left overs to eat. I am going a couple of times a week and I take food as well. We have some good country cooking places close by so I go there and get food to go and it gives them plenty to eat on for a couple of days at a time. We are managing like this for now, but we may need more help in the future.
We are taking mom on Friday to get fitted for new hearing aids. She’s finally getting some and really needs them. Her hearing has gotten way worse the last year or 2 and she wants to wear hearing aids, so I’m glad she’s getting those.
{Dad and I on Father’s Day.}
I think I’ve mentioned before that Dad has dementia and it’s getting worse as well. It’s so hard to watch them decline with age, but I knew it was going to happen eventually. Dad turns 94 today and really, it’s amazing that they have done as well as they have for so long. They did really great in their 80’s and the 90’s have been more challenging. Dad is on a memory medication and it is supposed to slow it down, but he’s pretty bad with his memory. His long term memory is really good, but the short term is lacking. He can’t remember from one minute to the next what is happening. Mom has to take care of all their business now. We are trying to take as much off her as she wants to give up. I know it’s hard on her to be physically down and then to have to take care of dad too. He couldn’t live on his own if she wasn’t there.
He’s still been driving but I think the time has come to stop that too. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s part of life that we all face and deal with. We are new to dealing with all of this and we all learn as we go, don’t we? I’ve asked my friend, Vicki, for a lot of advice lately since she lost both her parents in the last 10 years or so. We don’t know what we don’t know until we get there and have to learn it for ourselves and that’s what our family is going through right now.
Mark and I planted tomatoes over there this year and they are doing great! That’s been a happy event of summer so far and we started picking tomatoes last week.
They are loaded with green tomatoes and finally starting to get ripe. We are all enjoying that for sure!
We aren’t sure where those little tomatoes came from, we didn’t plant a small variety like that. They don’t taste like cherry tomatoes, they have a full flavor of the big ones. No matter, we will eat them! We also ended up with a plant with yellow tomatoes and we didn’t know that either.
I’ve made Caprese salad a couple of times and I’m sure there will be more of this.
Renee and Lauren are coming home for a visit this weekend, so I’m looking forward to that too. It’s always good to have them home and with my sister moving away, it’s a little more challenging for sure.
My old house closed almost 2 weeks ago now and so that chapter in my book is complete. It was a lot of work to get it ready for the market, so that took some time and effort, but it was so nice to get it closed and finished. God blessed me so much with that house and I sold it way over asking price in this hot market! Mark and I went out to Henry’s, our local Cajun restaurant to celebrate the day it closed.
Miss Daisy turned 6 months old this week. She is a little doll and we love that gal. She’s so fun to wake up to every morning. We are still working on potty training, but she’s doing pretty well. Those small dogs are hard to train I hear and we are finding that to be true.
I finally got consistent on giving her a treat when she goes out and that has motivated her big time. The girl loves her meals and eating! I think she has reached her final weight and I’m not sure exactly what that is but I’d say 6 lbs or so. She’s still a little thing but has more than doubled from when we got her. It’s been fun having a new fur baby around the house. She is a bundle of energy and doesn’t let us forget she’s here. She enjoys playing hard and napping hard. We’re so lucky she goes to bed at 11 and sleeps all night until 8 or 8:30 every morning.
I thought you’d all enjoy a family update since it’s been awhile for that. Life is good, we are just getting into the hard stages of taking care of our parents. Mark’s mom is still living alone after his dad passed away last year and she’s doing fine. She wants to stay there for now, but I’m sure that might change in the future too. She’s 91 now, I think. I enjoy visiting with her, she’s a wonderful lady and mother-in-law.
We are very grateful for our health and our families. Life isn’t always easy but we just keep going, don’t we? God has been very gracious to my family and I’m grateful for that. I’ve got high cholesterol that I’m going to have to work on to get down. It’s been trending up the last 5 years or so and my doc wants me to go on meds, but I told him give me some time to try to get it down. I asked on my Instagram page and got lots of ideas so I’ll be implementing some of those. It’s not easy getting older either is it?! I haven’t had to worry about these things until the last few years. I have high blood pressure and now high cholesterol and I think it’s in the genes, but I’ll have to work harder at it now.
I hope you all are well! Thank you as always for coming by for a visit. I hope this peek into my family has been interesting for you. I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for almost 15 years, you all feel like you know me and my family! I’m planning to keep going, but eventually the posts may slow down a bit. I’m not sure I’ll keep up the fashion posts forever, we will see.
Thank you again for keeping up with me and coming by so often! I truly appreciate you all!
God’s continued blessings to you and your family, Rhoda. You are a blessings to many.
Rhoda, we are in similar places in life. I lost my sweet dad, but Mom is 91 and her short term memory is pretty much gone. The car is very tricky. Hard to give up that independence. A health event made it possible in our case, but as I’m sure you know, that brings a whole new set of responsibilities.
I agree, it is a very scary time in our country, and I just pray God can guide us through.
Thank you for the update on your family. I was the main caregiver/go to person for my parents before they passed away–hardest thing I have ever done. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. My parents were very similar to yours–sweet life long love story and I had a wonderful home to grow up in–I am so thankful for that!!! I will keep your whole family in my thoughts. I love your little Daisy, I have a little while white furry guy named Simon–he has brought me through many things the last 12 years. May God Bless you and your family each and every day.
Love your blog. Been a follower since before Birmingham. I too pray for our country as I am so disheartened at what is see and hear, as well. I am a conservative as well. I do know God is in control.
My mom has the same issue as your mom. The cement will strengthen one area but then cause breakage in another. It’s an endless battle. My mother has had that cement procedure twice, several areas each time. Now it seems to have just moved up to her neck. Very frail spine. If your mom has a specific area of pain these patches that you can buy over-the-counter from the pharmacy (or Amazon) called “SalonPas” offers relief. My mom wears every one or two everyday. It offers her a little relief. Just a thought, since your mom‘s pain started right after Mother’s Day, it may have been from lifting the great-grandchildren, or bending down and playing. That’s all it takes when your bones are that brittle to crack, break or snap something. My mother lifted her hands to adjust her showerhead and snapped a vertebrate! Bless you as you take care of your parents. My husband and I both lost our dad‘s but we still have our mothers. And it’s so hard watching them go further and further into decline. My only sibling passed three years ago. So it’s on me as it is on you. There are days it’s exhausting, but we do what we can. I now have my mother in a senior living apartment with three meals a day, housecleaning, activities, in house medical if needed.
Another mention about hearing aids. The cheapest place to get them is COSTCO. My husband is 64 and just got his hearing aids. They were $1,399. Everyplace else was $6,000-$8,000. He loves them.
God bless you!
Thank you, Sher, you’ve been a sweet friend for a long time. We did go to a ENT who has an audiologist there too, so already had her hearing checked. She thinks mom will do fine on a set of hearing aids that are $1700 total so we are going that route. Dad got his at Costco a few years ago, but he won’t wear them.
I, too, as a conservative am very concerned for our country. I pray and know that God is in control. I always enjoy reading about your parents and am so glad they have each other. At 78 I am facing health issues with my back. Take care and God bless.
I don’t think I share your political beliefs (particularly after the last administration). And as an educated and trained medical professional I don’t share your view of the vaccine. But I do share the knowledge and deep belief that God is in control and will see us through. That sustains my joy no matter what’s going on around me! Treasure your time with your parents. I miss mine so much. I think of them every day and would love to get some more wisdom from my dad, the best person I’ve ever known. I have enjoyed your blog for quite a while and I’m on the same page with fashion these days….not as high on my list at this point in my life. Just keep in mind that not all Christians have the same opinions and vote the same way.
Thanks Jane, even though we don’t agree on everything, God is in control. That’s what gives me peace.
Thanks for updating and prayers for your family and hoping your Mom can manage her pain. I love watching you decorate but this is what real life is all about. Sometimes just sharing is so helpful to you as a caregiver.
Oh Rhoda! I so feel what you are going through with your parents as I was my mom’s caretaker. She was 97 when she passed but those last few years were rough. At one point she had a compression fracture but it healed after a few months mainly from a calcium dose that she took nasally. She got some relief from those pads that someone else suggested. And putting a stretchy back support belt on her helped. I will keep all of you in my prayers.
Thanks Jane, I know your mom lived such a long life and you know exactly what this caregiving looks like. I did buy her some of those pads, not sure how many she has used. I also got her a Tens unit but she didn’t really want to do it.
I went through a similar situation with my mom 21 years ago and now I’m the one getting older (71). It’s hard! Your parents look great and your dad certainly doesn’t look 94! I hope I look that young when I reach my 90’s. Your Daisy is so cute! I forgot what kind of dog she is and did you get her locally? We have a friend in Woodstock that we visit every now and then. I’m thinking about adding a dog to our family!
Thanks
Totally understand all that you mentioned Rhoda. My mother is 91 and we have had to make some changes due to short term memory issues. She does not understand why we are concerned but we have had to override her on some things and it is hard to take up the reins as our parents decline. I am so thankful for my two sisters who live nearby. I try to go and help every other week. Blessings on you and your parents.
Hi Rhoda, I too have high cholesterol, but my HDL (Heavenly) are way higher than the normal person. Which can bring the total pass where the doctors think is normal. So take a look at that level and hopefully that will be way high.
I’m sorry to say but your father should not be driving. Ask me how I know. The only way is to take the car to “shop to get it fixed” and when he asks for the car will still be in the shop. It works sad to say.
Dogs are a wonderful friend and a huge help when dealing with the problems of life. Great stress relievers.
Enjoy each and everyday with your family. Life is too short not to.
My HDL is good but I’m definitely going to have to work on the LDL. Yes it’s time to take the keys.
Rhoda,
Thank you for the beautiful post with your parents, puppy, and yumm tomatoes. This may all be old info for you,
As a therapist with many years in acute care ICU, out patient and
rehab settings, I have had patients improve from non ambulatory due to pain, to
Ambulatory no assistive device after having spinal steroid injections. I had pts go to Mayo. Other potential benefits for your Mom are a “rollator” Walker or regular 2 wheel in front Walker, a shower seat to prevent falls, fall or locator alert. The 4 wheel Walker have seat, storage, found at Walgreens or other. Regular walkers often found at resale shops for a dime, and shower seats. The walkers can allow most to walk farther, with safety which impacts community distances, and ability to stay active, reduce pain. Physical therapists can assist you with training and body mechanics education, out patient setting, or in her home. Home evaluation can help prevent falls. Advocate advocate to maintain quality of care for frail seniors. Medicare benefits allow skilled rehab for up to 100 days post 3 day hospitalization, not “observation” stay. Must be admitted and keyed correctly by doctors. Home health benefits also for therapy, nursing.
Do not accept “hospice “ = socialized medicine often suggested inappropriately.
Thank you for all the information, all of this aging info is new to us as we haven’t been through it before. Learning as we go.
Hi Rhoda!! I’ve been following your blog for many years, not a daily reader but check it out as I have time. We are like minded, so I enjoy your blog! Praise God for our Savior and that He is on His throne and rules – this world is crazy! I wanted to share what my hubby and I use, instead of prescription meds for high cholesterol: take a fish oil capsule everyday (up to 2) and Red Yeast Rice. That is an herb. We have been able to control ours well, naturally with those two things and daily exercise!!! So much better than meds the Dr.’s all seem to push;(. Blessings to you & your family.
Thank you JoLynn, I asked on INstagram and got a lot of good advice and red yeast rice was the #1 thing. I’m getting it today. I already take a fish oil too.
So much more is known about all these aging issues that 10 yrs ago when I went through it with my mother. A friend told me to do everything I could or they wanted/needed and I would have no regrets about caring for them. I tried, but am afraid I did not do too good job! If you have brothers or sisters,(sometimes that helps,others not to much)Wish now I had done more. Find a good support group-if you have time. And above all be patient. Which can be very hard,because the mental problems can cause everyone lots of stress. because you can’t fix it. Or put a band aid on it and lots of kisses to make it well. Good luck. I hope and pray it is an easy adventure for all of you.
Rhonda, I too am dealing with borderline high cholesterol. If and when you decide you need medication be very carful. Research what ever is ordered. I took one and had very negative results. Went off and now control on my own. Aging is tough at times. Must be your own advocate!
You are so right! I’m definitely going to research and going to try to lower it naturally before I agree to a statin.
Hearing about your family have always been my favourite posts. I also had wonderful christian parents and miss them everyday. God gives you the grace and peace to deal with the future. His timing is always perfect.
All of this sounds so familiar. They say life is uncertain, but one thing is certain for sure. As we age life changes even for the best of us. My dad passed away 22 years ago just a month shy of his 80th birthday. In contrast, my mom celebrated her 97th birthday last week. She has done remarkably well during those years but she’s starting to feel her age. She admitted it to me yesterday! After a long career teaching school, she started and has run a one woman land development company, surprising us at her ability to deal with everything and everyone. She has retired from that project and now lives each day with not much going on. She is used to being busy but her 97 year old body is not keeping up with her ambition! Luckily my sister, brother and I all live within 7 miles of her home. She has many grandchildren and great grandchildren nearby also. But the days and nights feel long and she is wondering how much longer she can stay in her home We are going to have to make hard decisions soon. Not the least of which is her driving! When she renewed her driver’s license last year they gave her 8 more years before she has to renew again! WHAT? She was even surprised. I
t will be hard for her when she can’t hop in her car and do what she wants. Aren’t we blessed to have parents that are still in our lives? Each day is a gift to be grateful for.
HI Marilyn, wow what a story with your mom and her spirit. That’s amazing! Those bodies do start giving out and it’s hard to watch. Driving is one of the hardest things they have to give up. We’ve even had conversations with dad about other people who gave it up, but I know it won’t be easy when it’s his turn.
I’ve been wondering how your parents are doing and I appreciate the update! I’ll say a prayer for them. As for your cholesterol, have you tried Red Yeast Rice? It did the trick for my husband and sister. It’s worth a try! Blessings to your family and prayers for our country.
Betsy, I had so many people tell me that, so I’m getting it today!
Rhoda,
I can certainly relate to this post. My parents are younger than yours but their home is too much to keep up with for them, and so they are going to move in with us. They will be building an addition to our house, but for awhile they’ll have our master bedroom suite. My dad has memory issues and physical issues, mom is doing pretty well.
My mother in law is 99 and has had short term memory dementia since her early 90’s. Before that she was a go getter! It’s hard on our parents to face aging, and it’s great that you and Marc are walking alongside your parents through it.
I just read an article on The Epoch Times: The Best Things Most Americans Can Do to Make America Better. *Develop one’s moral character *get married and make a good family *take care of your family and your parents *go to church or synagogue *take care of the poor usually by joining a service organization such as Rotary Club or church charity.
Can you imagine if the average young lady posted on FB her dream was to marry a wonderful man, make a beautiful home for a family, volunteer at the Food Bank with her Rosary group? Oh my, it might not go well for her!!
This well educated medical professional is not receiving any experimental medication for an illness that has a 99% recovery rate. I would volunteer for a properly run clinical trial as I have tremendous respect for our public health system. What we have now is a malicious circus.
The inventor of mRNA has raised concerns about the wholesale use of these medications, especially for younger people and has been experiencing some social media cancelling, of all things. We have to embrace science unfettered by political social slants. There is a true vaccine, Novavax, on the market now. I am watching the information on that.
You’re blessed and I know you know that, to have your parents and be in a position to help them so much. I miss my Mother so much, I think of her so often.
We must never lose hope, always remember Jesus has built His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail. God bless us all!
Nancy, I love what you said. I too do not trust what is going on with the vax either. It’s something we all have to figure out for ourselves. It’s an alarming thing what all is happening, but you’re right about Jesus & we can never lose hope.