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Aging like a Monsoon

This summer I was in Scottsdale Arizona during Monsoon Season.  It was forever fascinating to behold the electricity in the sky.  I felt a little bit like a storm chaser as I worked to capture (and eventually succeeded)  a rippling violent lightning strike.  I have slowed this down as much as my simple technologies will allow.  My son Bryan edited the footage and we posted it on You Tube Here’s the link:

https://youtu.be/k8sSGGMW4d0

I lived in Arizona during my years working in Hospice management.  I will never forget the first time I saw a thousand foot tall wall of dust and debris make its way up and over the south mountain range and droll forward, right into the extremely populous Phoenix valley. It feels a little bit like the end of the world is happening.

At the time, I was traveling East on the 10 and ended up on the highest freeway exit in all of Arizona, just at the same moment the blinding storm draped it’s way across the highway.

I watched the temperature gauge in my car drop from 109 to 76 degrees in the blink of an eye.

Is aging not the most tumultuous monsoon we can face?  Oh The humanity.  Just like me, cruising along on the highway exit ramp with no choice but to stop and deal with my new calamity.

Last week a client of ours began an aging monsoon in new territory for her and her family.  Determined that she was physically beaten by her treasured neighbor of some 30 years, she was arming herself with a broken wooden broom stick.  The caregiving staff was able to figure out that our client was not injured.  Was never on the floor where she was convinced she had been beaten, and she also had none of the tell tale indicators from the imagined calamity.

Just like the monsoon, that seemingly horrific scene blew right past.  Blinding us momentarily and ultimately falling as a mere nuisance and a reminder.  We are on to more productive ways to understand our client and we know better the warning signs and will heed them, all the better prepared to handle the next crisis.

They say Alzheimer’s victims are more aptly the family members that are scrambling to pick up the pieces.  As you strive to pass thru today’s challenges, the fear about what tomorrow could bring weighs heavily in your mind.  Call and get help before you get caught off guard!

I can only think of a handful of times in which the need for care represented itself as clearly as it did for a senior husband and wife we served in Upper Arlington, Ohio.  I spoke to the wife about her husband, who had been a professor at Ohio State University.

 

He had always towered over her and she was finding the prospect of helping him to navigate his needs a greater challenge than it was possible for her to do without a great amount of assistance.  When I rang the doorbell to meet them in person and Assess the care needs, I heard a muffled scream “Ben! Please let yourself in! John has fallen!”

It was the first of several falls John would have.  We spread the care to work around the most unstable moments of the day and kept tweaking the care plan as needed to cover any exposures or gaps.  As a nearby fellow Upper Arlingtonite, I was part of the emergency care plan.  There were several visits in which I would be there for less than 15 minutes, picking John up and getting him stabilized until one of John’s regular caregivers from our team could arrive.

I have often stated that putting together a proper care plan is a bit like threading a needle on a moving target.  Until we know all of the personalities, family resources and health diet and wellness challenges, disease trajectory and family history…we are operating in the dark.  This is why our family discussions will always be Free.  They make our job that much easier.

Our motto makes it simpler to understand.  If we can understand “Your Rules.” We can understand “Our Care.”  Call our 24-Hour Home Care Hotline today and arrange a care plan meeting so we can get our insights to serve your loved one more effectively.

Ben Smith is the Founder, President & Blog Writer for Always There Home Care.  He is also the C.C.I.C. (Chief Caregiver In Charge).

Each case is as important as the first.  Call today so we may learn how best to serve your loved one.  OR, Text Ben Directly: (614) 649-0684

This is a picture of Ben in “Blog Mode”.

Email: AlwaysThereHomeCare@gmail.com

OR: Fill our the form on our website and we will reach out to you.

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