Too Many Pesky Pills

Keeping track of one’s pills can be a bit confusing.  Those plastic weekly pill containers worked good to help my dad remember to take his pills every day.  He had three separate holders for his morning, lunch time and evening pills that he clearly marked.  He would fill up the containers On Sunday and that way he would know if he took his daily pills or not.   The only problem was that if he fell asleep, sometimes lunch time wouldn’t be until 3:00 or his evening pills would be really late which he was supposed to take at the same time every day.  It’s sad that as we get older we generally have more pills to keep track of which can become a bit confusing and sometimes overwhelming.

I used to think he was making a big problem out of nothing but now I have six pills to take and realize it is an added responsibility.  One is only on Saturday morning and one is only every other day (I use the calendar to help me remember which days to take them).  I just pull the bottles out of the cupboard when it is time to take them and after I take the pills, put them back right away.  I do not use the weekly pill holder because sometimes I take them at home and sometimes I take some at work.  Fortunately, my memory is good enough that I take them right on time each day.

Last week though, I had a day off so was out of my usual routine and was pretty stressed out.  I remembered I had to take my vitamin pills that I normally take at work, but instead of reaching for them on my second shelf, I grabbed the morning pills I take from the first shelf out of habit.  Oops!  I had the 5 a.m. swallowed and the next one in my mouth when it dawned on me these were not the right ones!  I was able to spit the second one out, dry it off and put it back.  I felt very stupid but from now on, I will take them out with the others when I am home so that doesn’t happen again.

I told the Pharmacist I accidentally took my early morning pill twice and asked if I should skip it the next day or still take it.  She said “Why would you take it twice?  How did you do that?”  I answered, because I’m stupid and explained I was off my routine.  She told me it wouldn’t hurt and that I should still take one the next day as usual. It sort of scares me a little that I did such a stupid thing when I’m not even a senior citizen yet!

Everyone makes mistakes but I try not to make the same mistake twice.  I think this will work.  Do you have pills to keep track of yet?  If not, you are lucky!  If so, what system do you use?

I am donating 50 cents per comment this month to Heifer International.

I'm So Stupid!

"I'm So Stupid!"

I remember my dad would bang the table and yell "I'm so stupid!" when he'd be clutsy and drop things or if he'd accidentally knock over his milk. This kind of thing happened more as he got older, but I guess he got to the point where is wasn't so unusual anymore so he didn't bang the table as much as he did when he was younger.

I find myself yelling the same thing, plus "How can I be so stupid???" when I put my pizza slices in my Tupperware container for lunch to eat at work the next day and instead of putting it in the refrigerator, I put it in the cupboard! Can you believe it? Sounds like the beginning of Alzheimer's, doesn't it? I was thinking ahead about what I was going to do instead of thinking about what I was doing. I not only did this once, but twice!!

I am not alone though. My husband, Gerard, said exactly the same thing when he threw away the L.L. Bean catalog with a $10 coupon in it that could have been used on our next order which he forgot was in there!
UPDATE 2/14/09: I should mention (due to Mountain Woman's comment) that I did mention this when I ordered something and they were very nice and still took the $10 off my order. They said they have these coupons on file. I love L.L. Bean!

If you are interested in finding out what living with someone with Alzheimer's is like or if you are in that situation and could use some encouragement, help, advice or assistance, "Measure of the Heart" by Ellen Geist is a book you should read.

What about you? Do you get mad at yourself and say "I'm so stupid!" or "How can I be so stupid?" or is it just us?

"My Funny Dad, Harry" Makes A Nice Gift!

It's so easy to make a mistake in my checkbook. I do online banking now and both our checks are automatically deposited so I do not go to the bank every week like I used to. When I got a nice cash Christmas/Birthday gift from one of my bosses, I went to the bank to deposit it in my checking.

First off, I gave the teller my deposit slip but forgot to give her my money . . . oops. She was very nice and simply asked if I had the money. I quickly pulled it out of my coat pocket and gave it to her, thanking her for being so nice and not saying, "Give me the money you dumb woman." Then she mentioned that I had two overdrafts on my account. I was shocked! She was very nice, again not calling me stupid or anything and told me which checks were overdrawn, both I had written. She said she'd waive the fees which were $35 each for a total of $70!

Good thing I had some cash to deposit so I had to go to the bank. Who knows how long before I would have found out about this otherwise.

I couldn't get back to the office fast enough to reconcile my checkbook. It was longer than I thought that I had done this (time goes so fast) and I found not one, but two numbers that I simply copied down wrong. One was the balance when I carried it forward to the next page which was a $100 error and the other was an incorrect amount for my phone bill which resulted in a $32 error.

I am so grateful to her for waiving the fees and today will be taking her a little gift to show my appreciation-an autographed book of "My Funny Dad, Harry" and a decorative Christmas boot with some chocolate covered pretzels and my PNN card letting her know where she can read about what a nice teller she is.

Although I made stupid mistakes, which happen, because of them, I received a blessing and in turn can be a blessing to someone else. Little acts of kindness can really make someone's day. How about this for a New Year's Resolution: Be kind to someone each day and try not to do so many stupid things!

Happy New Year!