Caregiving for Sondra (Jenne's Mom)
Donation protected
My Mom, who has early-onset Alzheimer's disease, has been going through a significant cognitive decline over the past month that hit a crescendo toward the end of last week. Shocking and heart-rending as it was, it became crystal clear to me over the weekend that she is ready for and urgently in need of a higher level of care than I can give her, and that she will be safer, healthier, and likely even happier, in an assisted-living facility. This is sooner than expected, and painfully ironic as we just recently made the top of the waitlist for Medicaid-funded in-home assistance. I submitted the enrollment application last week, the same week that it became clear she needs far more support than in-home assistance. So much for the wait!
I'm currently racing to catch up with her new needs, which is the hallmark of caregiving for someone with Alzheimer's, particularly the early-onset version. As soon as circumstances start to plateau, a new wave races in to knock you off your feet. For those of you interested in helping us through this big and swiftly moving transition, here are our current needs:
* Foster care for my Mom's dog. The absolute HARDEST part of placing my Mom in assisted-living is separating her from her dog. Audrey, a 13-ish year old Australian Shepherd that we adopted from the shelter in 2008, has been a profound source of love and companionship for her. I need to find someone who is willing to adopt Audrey for the remainder of her doggie years. It is very important that my Mom be able to have visits with Audrey (that I can facilitate) so I am looking for someone local to Asheville (Hendersonville could work). Audrey is up on her shots, incredibly sweet and mild-mannered. I am attaching a photo to this email, and will happily provide more details.
* Financial assistance or volunteer shifts for interim care-giving help. My Mom's short-term memory loss, anxiety, and executive functioning issues plummeted last week and persist. This means that my caregiving burden has increased exponentially on top of my teaching schedule and, since we don't have Medicaid-funding caregiver assistance (yet), I am having to pay more money than we can truly afford for help when I'm out teaching or trying to recuperate. Last year, I ran a GoFundMe campaign to help with caregiving assistance and we raised $2,375 to get us through a very tough spot. The campaign had a goal of $5,000, so there is room to grow it to get us through this tough spot. Here is the link to contribute to the campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/ caregiving-for-Sondra) if you would like to help fund caregiving assistance until we can get her settled into a higher level of care (hopefully a matter of weeks, but it could be a month or more). If you can't afford to contribute, and you'd like to spend some time with my Mom to help us out in the interim, let me know and we can find a date on the calendar for you to spend time with her.
*Advice on moving someone into assisted-living. Oh my god, ya'll. I've never done this before. If you have experience with moving someone into assisted-living, please let me know what were the most helpful questions you asked during your tour/interview of the facility. What are your 3 biggest tips for the transition?
If you cannot help logistically, it's okay: thank you for a big hug the next time you see me, and for holding us in the light and in your prayers. It most definitely takes a village.
Palms together,
Jenne
[email redacted]
I'm currently racing to catch up with her new needs, which is the hallmark of caregiving for someone with Alzheimer's, particularly the early-onset version. As soon as circumstances start to plateau, a new wave races in to knock you off your feet. For those of you interested in helping us through this big and swiftly moving transition, here are our current needs:
* Foster care for my Mom's dog. The absolute HARDEST part of placing my Mom in assisted-living is separating her from her dog. Audrey, a 13-ish year old Australian Shepherd that we adopted from the shelter in 2008, has been a profound source of love and companionship for her. I need to find someone who is willing to adopt Audrey for the remainder of her doggie years. It is very important that my Mom be able to have visits with Audrey (that I can facilitate) so I am looking for someone local to Asheville (Hendersonville could work). Audrey is up on her shots, incredibly sweet and mild-mannered. I am attaching a photo to this email, and will happily provide more details.
* Financial assistance or volunteer shifts for interim care-giving help. My Mom's short-term memory loss, anxiety, and executive functioning issues plummeted last week and persist. This means that my caregiving burden has increased exponentially on top of my teaching schedule and, since we don't have Medicaid-funding caregiver assistance (yet), I am having to pay more money than we can truly afford for help when I'm out teaching or trying to recuperate. Last year, I ran a GoFundMe campaign to help with caregiving assistance and we raised $2,375 to get us through a very tough spot. The campaign had a goal of $5,000, so there is room to grow it to get us through this tough spot. Here is the link to contribute to the campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/ caregiving-for-Sondra) if you would like to help fund caregiving assistance until we can get her settled into a higher level of care (hopefully a matter of weeks, but it could be a month or more). If you can't afford to contribute, and you'd like to spend some time with my Mom to help us out in the interim, let me know and we can find a date on the calendar for you to spend time with her.
*Advice on moving someone into assisted-living. Oh my god, ya'll. I've never done this before. If you have experience with moving someone into assisted-living, please let me know what were the most helpful questions you asked during your tour/interview of the facility. What are your 3 biggest tips for the transition?
If you cannot help logistically, it's okay: thank you for a big hug the next time you see me, and for holding us in the light and in your prayers. It most definitely takes a village.
Palms together,
Jenne
[email redacted]
Organizer
Jenne Sluder
Organizer
Asheville, NC
