Most of my posts reflect a positive attitude about “Living with Alzheimer’s.” My self-perception is that I am an even-tempered person who is upbeat and calm even during life’s ups and downs; however, I have recently focused on the unusually high degree of stress I’ve experienced since the loss of Kate’s primary caregiver on November 9. Four weeks later, we had 29 different caregivers. It’s now been eight weeks, and the total number of different caregivers is 36. That is an average of almost five new caregivers a week. In addition, there have only been 11 out of 49 days when we had just one caregiver for eight hours. One weekend, we had 4 caregivers on Saturday and another 3 on Sunday. As a result, I have not been as upbeat as I usually am.
The good news is that I am making a good recovery. Part of the reason is that the number of new caregivers in a given week has declined significantly. Even more important is what I reported in my last post. One of the new caregivers has chosen to help me by volunteering to come three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) during January and February. As I indicated in that post, that removed a major source of frustration, but there is more.
Her first day was January 1. Several weeks had passed since she had been with us, and I had forgotten how much I liked her. Yesterday was her second day, and I feel even better. She seems to be better than other caregivers we have had over the past three years. She has the basic CNA (certified nursing assistant) skills and a caring and compassionate personality that I value. She is also pleasant to have around.
To top it off, Tuesday we had another new caregiver (number 36 since November 9) who was excellent, and she will be back tomorrow. I don’t know about her long-term schedule, but it would be wonderful if she could come on Tuesday and Thursday when our Monday, Wednesday, Friday person is not available. It may not be quite as good as having one person five days a week, but it comes very close. Everything may turn out to be even better than it was before the loss of our previous person. I am hopeful.
