Salad Success
Cake and Movie Nights
My mother and Suzanne at Cake Night
Things have changed on my home front. My mother Mina, the creator of the Glorious Charlotte Russe, fell and smashed her shoulder two months ago. Now she is in a free-falling descent and is under 24/7 care. No longer do I pick her up every night to have dinner at my house, or even prepare a dinner to be served at her house. She can hardly move, has no balance, has limited speech and horrible coughing jags while she eats. So what can I do to cheer her up?
Easy. Once a week, we have cake night. Supposedly, I spend a couple hours making a fab new cake recipe and the whole family meets at her house around 9 pm to have cake and light conversation about the previous week. Then, much to the joy of my mother and the caregivers, I leave them one half of the cake. Mom then has dessert for 4 – 5 days, which seems to be the highlight of her day. The first week, I tried the Mary Todd Lincoln’s Vanilla Almond Cake which we all loved. Last week was a marvelous White Chocolate and Lemon cake, and next week, well it is time for something decadent and full of chocolate.
The other addition that has been a great hit for my mother was installing a Roku (little black box) to my mother’s television and subscribing to Netflix. The Roku attaches to her DSL/cable line and allows Mom to see her beloved movies at any time. Now I don’t have to deal with returns or late fees and the movies are downloaded to her computer. Mom has been seeing old favorites such as her Jacques Tati movies and foreign flicks. The Roku cost approximately $66 in total, and Netflix charges are around $7.95 a month. I couldn’t ask for a better or easier solution.
So do something special for your parents and write in with your tips. I know that we would all appreciate it.
Accidents at Home
Catherine Outlaw has been my mother’s care giver for the past three years. We can’t survive without her, and two weeks ago, Catherine, while trying to hang up a plant on her balcony plummeted 30 feet below. She smashed her left side, including a broken arm, ribs, fractured discs and pelvis. I don’t know if she can ever work in her field again.
For 5 days we didn’t know what happened to her, and finally a call came from her sister explaining the devastating accident. I had no back up for Catherine, and became my mother’s care giver from Hell. But as soon as I heard the news, I rushed over to Catherine’s apartment and gave her a 32 oz. bottle of Elixer. Her sister immediately began a treatment of Elixer on Catherine to help manage her pain.
Catherine, although in no way healed, at least is doing much better. “The cream is wonderful. It has made the pain bearable. I’ve been able to cut down on the prescribed pain killers to one pill in the morning and night” she said.
Today, life is easier for Catherine, my mother and I. I quickly found several wonderful caregivers to replace Catherine during this period. My mother is happier getting rid of the caregiver from Hell, and Catherine is slowly mending. However, before you do a stupid chore that deals with heights, just ask yourself if you can afford the ramifications of a potential accident. I know that I am getting older and my reflexes aren’t as good, so I’m staying off of make-shift ladders and reaching for plants and objects that require superb balance and luck.
Stay healthy and wise.
Loss of Balance, Falling and Bruising
Thursday Night - Not looking good
For seniors, loss of balance and falling brings terrifying consequences. When we are babies, it is a normal part of learning to walk, when we are from the ages of children thru adulthood, it rarely happens, but as we age, loss of balance begins to take a serious toll in our lives.
I am of the sandwich generation. I have 2 girls, 12 and 17, and an 84 year old mother which I care for in the evenings and monitor throughout the day. My mother has been falling for the past 4 years. Luckily she is overweight, which cushions her falls and protects her bones. She has osteoporosis, spinal stenosis, and has broken two ribs during the past year. After every fall my mother’s caregiver and I aggressively treat her with arnica cream to reduce her inflammation and bruising. But I have never been able to record the consequences of the fall, and the relief of the cream until last week.
My mother loves her garden and since we are worried that she could fall on the uneven ground, we designed a cement path so that she could safely get around with her walker. However on Wednesday, some how her bad knee gave way and Mom toppled over, hitting her face on a solar light. Somehow she was able to pull herself back up, get back in the house and call me. I came over as soon as possible, saw that she had cut her nose, gave her ice, ibuprofen, and put some Elixer Arnica Sports Rub TM on her face. Seeing that the bleeding would not stop, I took her to the Urgent care facility where she received 8 stitches. That night I, along with my other duties, I made sure that Mom got another dab of Elixer.
Monday after the stitches are taken out. Once again, Mom is BEAUTIFUL!
Mom’s bruising is scary since she has poor circulation due to congestive heart failure. As we feared, her left side of her face looked terrible on the second day. For the next several days Mom would receive Elixer treatments in the morning and night and each day, the bruising inflammation subsided. By Monday, I almost had my mother’s beautiful face back to normal. And Mom feels so much better, the stitches were out, and her physician commented on her speedy recovery, “Just like a young kid’s”, he said.
See for yourself and try our free sample offer.
We think that every one should have a jar of Elixer in their medicine supply.
Accidents in the Home
My daughter and her best friend with broken wrists from Snowboarding!
They say that most accidents happen in the home, and the most dangerous place is the bathroom. Many of us try to insure against accidents, such as putting mats down in the bath tubs, rubber-lined rugs on the tile, no electric appliances need the bathing area, etc. However, every once in a while, all of our precautions are useless.
Yesterday, I couldn’t think of a thing to write about pain management or arnica. All the testimonials seem to disappear from my brain. So I decided to take a shower and see if my head would see a vision of a story. While in the shower, I cursed my kids for not putting the bath mat on the tub floor, and racked my brain for an idea.
“Hey, Mommy, can you drive me to the pool?” shouted my daughter through the bathroom door. “No problem, let me get dried off”, I answered.
While getting out of the tub, I realized that I had taken most of the towels away for the Monday morning wash. No problem, as I walked dripping wet to the opposite end of the no-slide tiled floor. I reached for the towel on the wall behind the door, and my feet slid out from under me. Wham, I hit my ulna (big lower arm bone) with my full weight. The bump and the excruciating pain started IMMEDIATELY.
Swiftly, while not trying to frighten my daughter with banshee screams, I rushed and got an ice pack. Just before wrapping the lower arm in the pack, I quickly rubbed on some Elixer Arnica Sports Rub TM, and swallowed an ibuprofen pill.
It took well over an hour for the pain to become a low-level throb, but with the fast action, my injury is minimal – it’s now a bump being treated with Elixer.
Next time, I’ve got to find an easier way to get a story for the blog.