My apologies for not blogging here regularly for a long while, but I was caring for my 81-year old mother-in-law for the last few weeks. She fell at home and fractured a vertebra in her lower back and spent a week in the hospital and then two weeks in a rehab center.
And when she got out, she was in no condition to be without constant care. Thankfully she’s on the mend now and no longer needs by round the clock care and has physical therapists, nurses and occupational therapists coming to check on her a few times a week. And other family is there before and after work.
Thank goodness my parents are in good health, but I won’t be too surprised if they need help in the near future, too. Many of my friends are in the same boat, caring for their elderly parents. And some are even caring for the younger generation too, babysitting or raising their grandchildren!
I’ve already tried to prepare both sets of our kids and their spouses that maybe one day down the line, they will be caring for me, too. And a long time ago, I began thinking that if we ever move again, it sure won’t be to a house that’s anything buta rambler with no stairs to climb either up or down!
But you know, after going this through this experience with the MIL, it’s reinforced the idea that I should be taking better care of myself right now, so I don’t have the same problems later on! Need to lose weight, firm up my muscles, practice balancing exercises for stability and maybe even begin some yoga or meditation for relaxation.
After hubby’s second run-in with melanoma last summer, we’ve already begun eating better. We are not dieting, but instead are changing our eating habits for life. Now eating more organic foods, eating many more fruits and vegetables and eliminating the processed foods and salt.
Already with the elimination of the salt, my blood pressure which was quite high before at 160/95, is back to normal at 118/76. And I’ve lost 20 pounds since the same time last year. How’s that for a good start?
How about you, are you facing the same dilemma caring for aging parents and/or your grandchildren? Have any solutions or comments you’d like to make about how you’re coping? Although this post is drastically off my normal topics, I’d still like to hear your comments.
