When my dad got into his late 80s and was put on more medication, it got to be a bit overwhelming for him. Of course, he was supposed to take the different medications near the same time every day (which didn't happen). I made the following "To Do" list for him so he could have a set schedule to stick to which he tried to follow, but would fall asleep during the day and then get behind.
DAILY SCHEDULE (rev. 1/11/07)
MORNING (4:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.):
1. Change shirt or pants on days you wake up way early (before 4:30 a.m.)
[THIS HE CROSSED OFF BECAUSE IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG--He slept in his clothes to save him time. ]
2. Levothyroxine take on empty stomach every day first thing with lots of water (about 30 minutes before breakfast)
3. Wash up (if hungry, do after breakfast)
4. Test blood sugar (Insulin if over 150)
5. Eat Breakfast & Metformin
6. Chew Centrum while putting lotion on legs-could do after lunch if running late—very important!!!!!!
7. Plain Dealer & mail-can get later if running late
[HE COULD HAVE JUST LET ME BRING IT IN WHEN I CAME BY BEFORE WORK, BUT HE SELDOM DID]
8. Feed outdoor cats.
LUNCH TIME (11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)
8. Test blood sugar (Insulin if over 150)
9. Eat Lunch & Iron slow release pill
10. visit cats upstairs (only if strong enough)--if running late or tired, skip cats
11. Free time (read mail, do whatever)
SUPPER TIME (4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.)
11. Test blood sugar (Insulin if over 150)
12. If over 99 take Metformin
13. eat Supper
BED TIME (9:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.)
As you can see he really didn't have much time to do anything. He found this frustrating and so often would have days where he didn't accomplish much. Everything he did took very long. Although I added the times for him, he pretty much ignored them. Sometimes he wouldn't get to bed until 11:00 p.m. Often supper time and bed time ran together. Once he got off Toprol, he didn't fall asleep as much during the day. That made him drowsy all the time.
See Organizing Tip of Week 9--To Do List.
2 comments:
I am thrilled to stumble onto this blog referring to your dad. He sounds so much like my own dad who is now 91 and still going strong (mentally) despite all his physical ailments, which include being nearly blind, very deaf and completely bent over. He still keeps himself occupied all day, fussing over my mother (89)- and is always to be found doing some crazy thing or other. His bedroom resembles a tool shed and my mother refuses to go in. How did you find a publisher?
That's so cool you have both your parents still managing! I can just picture your dad's bedroom--did I mention my dad had tools piled up in his living room as well as a few in his bedroom too?
Anyhow, here are links to the several places where I wrote about how I found a publisher:
http://karen.pnn.com/articles/show/13584-how-i-found-a-publisher
http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK1LL2Y6FOPP4A2
Post a Comment