Most recently my 84 year old mother moved in with us. Before making this life changing decision we checked out many local assisted living centers in the Denver Metro area and discovered that they all charge $3000.00 a month average, a few charging $2000-$2200. per month but having a waiting list. However she doesn't get that much from social security and so all of us siblings were planning to pitch in to cover the balance, whatever the cost. But that was not the only issue. She needed personal care and attention that can't be bought.
Upon her arrival, mom was wiped out. Suffering from high blood pressure and a crazy pulse fluctuating daily I realized she needed a lot of TLC. She wasn't eating right, nor taking her medications correctly. I began with allowing her all the rest she needed and took care of everything. It was taking too much energy on her part to even think about making any decisions.
My mother has always appreciated home remedies, and alternative medicine, but she never knew where to start. I live in the Loveland area and she was in Denver, so whenever she would call me for ideas or to tell me how she was feeling, I was helpless, as she often didn't have the remedies or essential oils I would suggest. As a caregiver already for a young man with autism I couldn't just go to Denver every time mom felt bad so the decision to move her up here with us proved to be a good one.
Mom slept often. I realized that more was going on here than first suspected. She, bless her heart, was sick with something, I took her temperature and she had a 101 degree fever.
I gave her OnGuard in her water, an essential oil blend from doTerra, to help her fight the infection. She teetered often, so we rubbed Balance on her feet. After the first couple of days the teetering stopped. I put peroxide in her ears, the itching and feeling of being plugged up went away. Her jaw was sore (I think from sleeping on her side) so we used Melaleuca oil inside and out.
To bring down her rapid pulse and blood pressure we use Lavender, Ylang Ylang, and Marjoram essential oils, one at a time rubbed on her back. Her meds are given regularly and a drop of Lavender behind each ear at night to help her sleep. Before bed I put essential oils in a diffuser and let it run until she is fast asleep.
During the day, she gets Lemon essential oil in her water to help her blood pressure to regulate itself as well as good supplements from doTerra, and good home-cooked organic food. Little by little she has started to walk on the treadmill at 1 mile per hour for a minute or two.
We use coconut oil on her dry and itchy hands and feet, and the itchiness has stopped.
She is now eating better, and waking up more often, her fever broke night before last and she is now up and about the house trying to fend for herself as much as possible. I do her laundry but let her help put it away so as to give her something to do.
She is eating gluten free now, which I believe the gluten in her diet was a source of irritation to her fragile digestive system. When she feels out of kilter she drinks a cup of water with DigestZen to aid with that. She still isn't eating much food, But the food she gets is healthy. For example, I juiced some organic celery to balance her electrolytes and she eats homemade raw yogurt with organic blueberries as well as greens put through a Nutribullet with some berries and a banana. Home-made beef broth with vegetables is a favorite.
I only wish I would have moved her up here sooner, but I didn't realize how bad off she really was. My dear brothers saw her nearly everyday and did the best they could but because they work they hadn't spent the time with her to see that she had been going downhill fast. She tried hard to keep up with everything but just couldn't do it anymore and almost never complained. When she ended up in the hospital two times in a week, the decision was made, time to do something.
If you have a loved one that needs care, maybe you too can move them into your home. I could not see putting her in an assisted living center or a nursing home, but that is exactly what would have had to happen had we not moved her here. Fortunately I have a loving family that all care for her welfare and am in the position to have her here at home.
The alternative methods used for my mother are what we choose to do, you must accept responsibility for the type of health care you help your loved one with, whether alternative or traditional western medicine, or a little of both*. Even with the cost of all of the oils, supplements and organic food used for her, it would never add up to the cost of a room in an assisted living center or nursing home.
I hope to care for my mother at home for as long as she has left and to make her life as comfortable and as happy as possible.
*Care must be exercised if using drugs and herbal remedies as some cannot be given together. Contact your pharmacist and or doctor to make sure.
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