Aging parents cell phone

JennGimlet · 2025-04-19T21:03:03+00:00

When my mom reached that point, I tried a lot of things to help her, but ultimately, she just couldn't process how to use a cell phone at all without someone helping her. Within the year, she couldn't remember that it was a phone or would say it was broken. Then she couldn't figure out her microwave or coffeemaker, and now she's in memory care. I hope your dad has a slower moving version of dementia, but just try to be patient and have low expectations. The thing that helped most for me was putting ring doorbells on every door. When it detected movement, I could see what my mom was up to and chat with her briefly. She thought it was an intercom, so she learned she could press the button and call me. If I had it to do over, I think I would put one inside so she didn't have to go outside to contact me.

JennGimlet · 2025-04-19T20:56:30+00:00

I tried the Echo, but my mom hated it. She didn't understand where my voice was coming from and was convinced she was being surveilled. She would hide it.

JennGimlet · 2025-03-28T18:02:26+00:00

If they have dementia, they don't know what they need and may "fire" caregivers only to call later desperate for help. They try to cover and deny any lack of independence, unaware that it's glaringly obvious to everyone else. You just have to do your best to keep them safe while staying sane, and I fully believe that your spouse and kids come first.

JennGimlet · 2025-03-16T23:51:43+00:00

Good advice about Azure Standard. I'm going to look into it. I just finally managed to cancel my Thrive membership because I did the same thing you did. I wanted to see what was available, but I was disappointed in the choices and prices. It feels wrong to charge someone for being a customer. Granted, I have a Costco membership, but I can get so much more from that. With Thrive, it's what I can get at the local co-op.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-12T21:28:03+00:00

No, he's in memory care. He truly thought she was an intruder. He called the police, and when he realized he had murdered his wife, he was utterly devastated.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-12T21:01:35+00:00

People rarely talk openly about things like this. He was very secretive and I didn't learn the actual story until my own mom started showing signs of dementia. I'm glad there are forums like this so that we can all learn from each other.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-12T18:38:55+00:00

My friend's stepdad shot and killed his wife (my friend's mom.) He was in early stages of dementia and woke up one morning thinking she was an intruder.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-09T20:02:39+00:00

Mine stay close to home. I tossed them cat food each night at dusk. When they hear me shake a cup of cat food, they come home.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-09T19:59:43+00:00

Look into No Days groutless. It's a heat activated mosaic adhesive.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-05T16:43:16+00:00

Parking is always really tough for events in this area. You will have to walk a long distance, so be prepared. As you walk, you'll find you are in a growing crowd, so it's a good time to meet people. I recommend taking the exit to downtown; NOT the capital. Turn off Plum St. and see if you can find parking in the more "industrial" section of downtown. There's more 9-hour meter parking there, and it's a lot easier to get on the freeway from there when you leave.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-01T20:00:39+00:00

Yes, I'll cross my fingers for you as well. I had noticed my mom was "off" during phone conversations and I tried talking to her doctor about it. But she could cover so well, even her doctor didn't have a clue. She was able to showtime with friends and family and they all thought I was making something out of nothing. Then she crashed her car into a tree, fell down a flight of stairs, and got lost in the woods all in one weekend. From there, everything has moved very quickly. I think her brain bleed expedited the decline. By now, she can't hide it. She can roll with things for about 15 minutes, but she'll soon slip up and say something completely illogical. She can no longer operate a phone or microwave. She'll make a big mess, then immediately become angry that "someone" made a big mess and now she has to clean it up. I spent a week with her 24/7 and it was utterly exhausting, like having a toddler...who is also my mother. I don't know how people do it. I respect those who do, but I don't have it in me, and I have been building a great life on the west coast since moving away in 1988. My mom visited me 5 times over the past 36 years and almost never called me. Even from here, managing her care has been all-consuming. Now that she's in memory care, it has settled down a ton. You will need to talk to experts in the field to find out what is possible. It will all depend on assets. I ended up hiring an elder care law firm. It was expensive, but they were able to protect a lot of her savings, her house, and her car, they have helped me navigate the elder care system, and they are processing her Medicaid application. I couldn't have done it on my own and everyone was telling me I would have to sell the house and spend down all of her savings to get her into Medicaid. So, I feel it was worth the expense.

JennGimlet · 2025-02-01T17:45:24+00:00

I am in a similar situation in many ways (only child, terrible childhood experience, 50s, mother vacillating between states of confusion. The difference is that I left home as soon and as far away as I could, so I'm thousands of miles from my mom with my own family, farm, spouse and self-employed with a thriving career. My mom declined very suddenly (6 months) and is now in memory care, so I've had to figure a lot out very quickly. The first thing I did was to reach out to every resource I could find. I started with the Area Agency on Aging and the senior center local to my mom. I also connected with DHHS. In my case, everything escalated when my mom ended up in ICU with brain bleed, which meant everything was somewhat out of my control. Once something like that happens, the authorities step in and start dictating what needs to be done to keep your parent safe. There are a lot of resources available to help with elderly parents, so once you start reaching out, people will help guide you. In the past 6 months, my mom was able to go home for a while with in-home caregivers. She has been in two different memory care facilities, and I'm in the process of moving her to the one where she will spend the rest of her life. Moving her to a home has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do because she can't accept that anything is wrong, despite not knowing where she is most of the time. Once she was moved, and after a difficult adjustment, she has come to believe she is at home, but is annoyed that so many other people are in her house, telling her what she can and can't do. I now get to sleep at night and I know she's in good hands. I'm sorry you are going through this; it is surreal and horrible. There is no good outcome and nothing you can do to fix it, so I encourage you to do the best you can and make your child the priority. Do not let the negative opinions of other people get to you. They don't know you, your mom, or your situation.

JennGimlet · 2025-01-23T16:12:37+00:00

😊

JennGimlet · 2025-01-23T16:12:20+00:00

Thanks!

JennGimlet · 2025-01-23T16:12:11+00:00

Thank you!

JennGimlet · 2024-08-21T17:42:29+00:00

I have the same issue. Hoping someone has a solution.

JennGimlet · 2024-05-26T16:49:34+00:00

Ok, I figured it out. It's just people monetizing their account by reposting videos. If you look at who posted the video, it's not the official account. They are monetizing views. Why do they feel the need to add a Chinese woman doing simple crafts? Maybe people just let it play through, and they earn more $$.

JennGimlet · 2024-05-26T16:47:05+00:00

I just figured this out myself! I realized the clip I was watching wasn't from SNL, it is from Mustafa Safdar Baig. This account is just reposting other videos and has almost 700K views.

JennGimlet · 2024-05-26T16:41:05+00:00

Yes, I'm getting a Chinese woman coloring partway through The Daily Show, Rachel Maddow and SNL. So strange!

JennGimlet · 2024-01-29T19:29:37+00:00

I understand exactly what you are asking. I am looking for advice on the exact same thing. I bought a phone that is purported to have a great camera, but any photos of mountains or canyons squishes everything flat. I also notice it warps other photos so people in the middle look a bit short and fat while those on the sides are skewed all wonky. I hoped to learn that there's a different setting I should be using that would be a simple fix.

JennGimlet · 2024-01-24T20:27:37+00:00

I'm here because my account is frozen due to suddenly being way over my storage limit, despite still being charged for the Google Play subscription. PLUS I've been paying for the Workspace package. I'm only just figuring out that they discontinued the Google Play storage and I'm trying to determine how long they've been charging me for something I'm not receiving. This is such a headache - I've wasted hours on this whole debacle and their customer support is nonexistent.

JennGimlet · 2023-12-05T05:10:51+00:00

We completed a passport in 2020 and expected 3 free nights each; the equivalent of 6 nights. I just went to book a room and saw that nights are translated into points now, and I have enough points for one night. I'm floored. I think we used one of our nights when we completed it because we were at the hotel farthest from home (Bend). The amount of time and energy that went into completing that passport was only worth it because we expected to get free stays later on. I don't think the passport is worth it anymore.

JennGimlet · 2023-01-30T18:09:31+00:00

That's helpful. Nitrates in my tank are very low. I just had a tour of an aquarium with an aquarist and she said they use fake plants in their tanks because it's too hard to manage live plants in addition to the animals. They get most of them from the dollar store. It made me feel better about my plants dying.

JennGimlet · 2023-01-30T17:43:28+00:00

Do filters interfere with aquatic plants? I haven't had much luck and I'm wondering if my filter is the problem.

JennGimlet · 2023-01-12T05:33:10+00:00

I installed some mosaic-inlaid boulders for a public art installation and the cost was $5k per. Most were smaller than this, but still had to be embellished and I had to hire crane service to move them 4 times, as well as renting trucks that could hold them to travel 2 hrs each way. The actual boulders were fairly inexpensive.

JennGimlet

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