Is The End Near

[JanM]

Hank fell about 8-9 months ago and he injured his right shoulder. His shoulder was recovering and the excuse I used to tell him that he was at KLM was for therapy for his shoulder no longer a good excuse. Then he fell again, not once, but twice and re-injured his shoulder. When I eat lunch with him he does not eat very much, so I have been bringing him nuts, breakfast bars, even Boost to drink. He usually gets a half pint of a protien drink at meals, but he doesn't eat much when I am there. I just feel that Hank is at the beginning of the end. Valentine's Day was the first day of his third year at KLM. I guess I just had to tell myself to get ready for the end. Thanks for listening to me.

[joy]

Jan it has been a hard journey you have already been through. will keep you and hank in thoughts and prayers. thank you for keeping us updated on yourself and hank.

[tic chick]

(((hey jan )))!

alzheimers, like any other terminal disease diagnosis, is always the "beginning" of the end.

statistics show that most alzheimer's patients live approx. 5 years after they enter the nursing home, so if 5 years is the average, the actual time span can be anywhere from 1-10 years.

everytime my mom seemed to reach a decline in abilities, i always thought that she wasn't going to live much longer. she started her 6th year in the nursing home on december 31, 2013. i thought when she lost her ability to recognize her family that she wouldn't live long. she is still paddling with her feet around the halls of the nh in her wheelchair. i thought when they found the cancerous polyp in her colon that she would die soon from that. i made the decision not to have her go through surgery because it would prolong her suffering...both from the alzheimers and the cancer. she makes up words now. she will start screaming for reasons only she knows. they moved her to another side of the 2nd floor so she wouldn't encounter a person she was getting in fights with. how stupid of them. she still is able to travel to the other side of the 2nd floor to where her room was. she still sees that person. she has probably forgotten why she even fought with this other person. the nh's are so clueless as to how to treat situations like this.

my mother-in-law was in the nh for 12 years before she died. she died at age 93. she had no health problems except for low thyroid. her existence at the nursing home was pleasant, as she was considered a "model" patient. she was quiet and she played ball with the therapist until about a year before her death. then she went on a decline, with one virus and infection after another sapping her strength. her killer was double pneumonia and a urinary tract infection that spread through her bloodstream.

most people don't die from alzheimer's disease. they die from other health problems, problems they maybe had before they developed alzheimers. hank's appetite loss may or may not be significant. if he doesn't do much, he doesn't need many calories to sustain him.

jan, i know you have had your own health problems to take care of. you also have such a good time when you visit your family in the summer and when you talk to your sisters during football games. you have your life. hank has his. i know it isn't fair that hank has alzheimers and you are still enjoying life, but we never know what is in store for us. i believe we should live each day as fully as possible, with as much happiness and feelings as we can. we never know when our last day will be, God has that decision.

remember jan, from your own signature line, "hank is just where God wants him to be, not one step ahead, nor one step behind".

thank you for sharing and caring and walking with us on our journies,
jeannie

[JanM]

I should ask his "table mate" if he eats more when I'm not there. Mayhaps in his mind, he is punishing me for him being at KLM. I won't leave him again like last summer, he knew I wasn't there and he missed me.

[JanM]

Hank has "lost' his top plate again. It hasn't showed up, so I will make an appointment for a new upper denture. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM I wonder if I should get him a nose ring and attach the new denture to it with a piece of fishing line so he doesn't lose this one. NAWH, that won't work......

[joy]

good one there jan, lol. I do remember several times in the lives of aunts, uncle etc. of their having a hardf time of keeping up with dentures, etc. there just seemed no way to stop all of the missing clothesd, etc. that went on in nursing homes and such.

I hope you are doingh okay yopurself. take care.

[JanM]

As long as I can keep finding the humor in all the crap life tosses at me, I'll do fine. God has got my back...........

[JanM]

Han has an appointment to get a new upper denture on the 23rd in the morning. This place will have them in one day, but I'm taking him for the initial appointment then bring him in the next day to get it. I would rather make a round trip of a 120 miles twice than have him endure an entire day of hanging around waiting for it at 4 pm.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Jan))))))

Would there be any possibility that two dentures could be made? You could keep one of them as a spare, should the denture go missing again. They may say no, but it might not hurt to ask.

Bless you and Hank. Sending prayers for strength and peace, and safe travels.

Love & Light,

Rose

[tic chick]

jan ,

when my mom's dentures went missing, the nurse asked me if there was any identification on them. there wasn't, cause i never expected her to lose them.

if my mom would get a new set of dentures now, i'd have the back tooth dyed a different color, maybe pinkish, like the inside of the mouth so it would blend in. i don't know if someone else took my mom's dentures by mistake, she left them somewhere in the nh where they can't be found or they were mistakenly thrown away. i think a different colored tooth or something like that would make them easier to find if another patient would take them. not much to do in the other two scenarios.

i had my mom put on a softer diet when she lost her dentures, so she wouldn't choke on her food if she couldn't chew it.

jeannie

[JanM]

Hank got his new top plate this past week after making 3 round trips to Affortable Dentures. And no, I didn't get him a nose ring

[joy]

oh my jan....it is late and I decided to check in for just s moment and quickly go back to bed and sleep. instead I am wide awake and chuckling now - yup, just picturing in my mind the one piece denture and if that wasn't enough one with a chain. poor hank I thought as I saw him eating with great difficulty because that chain kept getting in the way, lol.

now back to bed and hope I will go back to sleep. thanks tho as I do not get many funny things going on any more.

[JanM]

Well the Hanksters puts his dentures under the mattress at night and yes, the new top one got broke. I didn't have to get him a new one, but the cost of the repair was abut a third of a new one. Now a tooth has broken in the lower plate. I have decided to tell him that "I'll get them fixed next week." when he tells me that it is missing a tooth. He has mentioned about 8 time in 15 minutes already. I have asked the nurses at KL to take his teeth after supper and then give them back to him before breakfast. I don't know if that will happen, but he is not responsible to take care of them on his own.

[tic chick]

jan !

i'm sorry to hear the misadventures of hank's dentures...

i don't know which tooth is broken, but if it doesn't impede his chewing, it's prolly not worth to fix and it could even be kind of an identification that those are his dentures.

i don't know the help situation where hank is, but it seems reasonable to have a nurse take his dentures at night and give them back to him in the morning. i hope that can be done.

if hank is aware his tooth is broken, he is still pretty cognizant of his surroundings.

i hope you are doing okay, too .

jeannie