any advice for my grandmother and grand father?

Question

My grand mother is 82 years old. She has been relativley good health all her life. She survived uterian cancer, and 2 strokes. Now she can barely walk has horrible arthritis in her legs,arms and hands. and can barely get dressed by herself. The doctors diagnosed her with congestive heart failure. My Grand father is 83 years old he survived a mild heart attack and 2 strokes the 2nd stroke left him paralyzed on the left side of his face so his speech his slurred a little. The doctors diagnosed him with a clogged crodded artery and they told him there was nothing they could do. He is also diabetic and his a very bad diabetic becuase he eats cookies,and cake and pie and just about anything with sugar all day long. Is there anything that could help my grandparents at all.

Answer 1

Well, first of all your grandpa should lay off all the sweets that he’s eating, maybe someone needs to keep a close eye on him and monitor his diet. My own grandmother is about to turn 80 and she suffered a stroke few years ago, so I know how difficult it is to deal with someone that old with health problems. You do not mention if they live by themselves, but if they do, it may be time to get them to move or have someone live with them- even though there is two of them, but at this age and health problems they cannot rely just on themselves anymore. It may also be time to consider if they need to move to an assisted living place. As far as their health, all they can do is take their meds (someone has to make sure that they are in fact taking it) and prevent other problems by watching their diets etc.

Answer 2

I am 65 and have a diabetic Husband and cared for three dying parents. They were all the age of your Grandparents.
My Father was a smoker with very advanced emphysema, my Mother with Congestive Heart Failure and my Mother in Law with late stage Alzheimer's (died from side effects)

I want to say this with the most kindness I can muster. You need to understand that their lives are near the end. They have lived them the way they chose.Some things you bring on yourself and some things just happen to you.

Please spend as much time with them, learn everything that you can from them and about them. Because after they are gone you will wish you had ask them some things. Be as helpful as you can possibly be.

Changing your Grandfathers diet now, will Not save his life.

This gives you a wonderful opportunity to be involved in chronicaling their life in a video project. Tape them telling their life story so you will have it for your family when they are gone. It will make a wonderful project. Find out about school for them and how they met.
Where they lived. Where their children born in hospitals or at home. Ask them everything you can think of while they can answer you. This would be a fabulous project to bind the three of you together even more. Was He in WWII, what did he do and what countries was he in. Ask about funny expericences. (I was born on the kitchen table.) Look for funny life stories.

Take good care of them while they are still with you. Because they can be gone very quickly at this age.

Have your Grandmother take Ibuprofen every 4 hours and use asparcreme on her joints (I have arthritis also) It will help her joints quite a lot.

Have you checked into Hospice Care? They were a huge help to me. They provided nursing care once or twice a week at home as needed, some housekeeping each week.
(She vacuumed for me) All medical equipement, beds, walkers, oxygen and medicines were delivered.

When my Mom was passing they came every day.

God Bless all of you.

Answer 3

I know how sad you must be. We aree exactly their age and have health problems, some painful,some progressive.

Drs. have diagnosed their problems and said there was nothing they can do, something no one wants to hear,especially those of us who have to hear it. Hard as it is, you must reconcile yourself,as must they, that some things we just have to live with, bad as it may be.

Drs. are not God and even God does not always heal by miracles or the medical profession. When we accept the unacceptable, the inevetable, we may first struggle with it but when we finally do, we are more at peace because as long as we fight it, the stress works more problems on the human body and aggrivates the conditions we seek relief from.

I find that getting my eyes off self helps a lot-finding something I can do,even with pain, helps to even make the pain seem less severe-helping others-phone calls, if possible going to a sr. citizen center for fellowship, games if they can be participated in,etc. I read books hours on end and get myself really into them. I too am diabetic among other things and your g'father has to be accountable to himself for indulging in sweets knowing it is detrimental so some responsibility lies within ourselves in that regard.

I have lost most of my ability to walk due to post polio musculair atrophy and get around in my power chair but I do crafts, even though my hands hurt at times. I refuse to sit and have pity parties or just wait for death-others just give up. That is so sad. Take care and keep them in prayer.

Answer 4

old human beings dont look to take the death of a relatives member as problematical as youthful human beings do. all of us comprehend that we are going to die a while, yet maximum human beings are greatly surprised whilst it happens. I dont think of its a similar devestation for old human beings. to no longer say that they do no longer care, or that your grandfather did no longer love your grandmother...Im effective he did, yet he realizes that it fairly is a factor of life. be chuffed for him now that he has chanced on a girl pal, life is short, stable for him for seizing the 2d! to no longer point out the incontrovertible fact that for the time of the experience that your grandfather is something like maximum adult males, he's thoroughly incompetent whilst it involves cooking, cleansing, and so on., so he in all probability desires a girl pal to fill those roles in his life now that your grandmother has gave up the ghost.

Answer 5

get them a worker too come in and and help them ,the department on aging should be able to help you with getting that all started,get the circuit breaker going to help with finances,that you can get at the library,sign them up for public assistance to help with food cost,get them involved with a hospital group threw the park district for exercise,get meals on wheels started.and the hardest part is ,let them be ,they are older and they don't want to change much ,if they like it and it makes them happy let them have it .i know its hard i feel for you but accept what they want .good luck

Answer 6

Two words: Soylent Green.