A couple of useful products for my wife with memory issues

[Don C]

She has had a hostile relationship, first with the iPad I bought many years ago and then later with her iPhone. She used the iPad to read for a few months but then went back to paper and she never really did get the hang of the iPhone. So recently I purchased a RAZ memory phone.
RAZ memory phone
It is a phone only. Makes and receives phone calls. Not even voice mail. Using a web browser, I add phone numbers she might want to call, mostly family, and add photos which take over the screen if that individual calls her and to make a call, she just presses the picture. I can set it only accept calls in the directory or accept any call. Because she understands it, THIS is the phone she is willing to carry around.

The other device is a Flipper Big Button TV Remote.
Fllipper Remote
Which has like five buttons; power, volume up and down, and channel up and down. With this one, she is not confused by all the buttons for features she does not understand. I can set a list of her favorite channels so she does not have to scroll through a couple of hundred channels to find what she wants.

Our "smart" SONY TV turns on the amplifier (and surround sound) when the TV is turned on. Our "dumb" LG does not turn on the amplifier so we don't get surround sound on that system but she could care less about that.

Life is a little simpler having these two devices in the house!

[Markintosh]

Thank you Don. My father is entering into the intermediate phase of Alzheimers. The site you linked to has a lot of useful ideas that could be a big help for his wife, whom is still his primary caregiver.

[August West]

Thanks, Don.

[Zoidberg]

I've always been a proponent of simpler remotes as either pack-in or optional add-on/purchase. Include the programming one for setup and etc., sure, but give the people the option to have something simple and basic as well.

[Ombligo]

I gave up on a cell phone for my mom. We put a large button telephone in her room. Her tv remote is similar to what you have. I just put door knob covers on the house exits to ensure she doesn't wander outside as well.

The biggest challenge has been to get her to drink liquids to stay hydrated. She doesn't want to because then she has to use the bathroom which is harder for her. Of course, then she gets dehydrated and sick. i wish there was a way to give her an IV at home on occasion.

[Lemon Drop]

Thanks Don.

[Speedy]

Ombligo wrote: The biggest challenge has been to get her to drink liquids to stay hydrated. She doesn't want to because then she has to use the bathroom which is harder for her. Of course, then she gets dehydrated and sick. i wish there was a way to give her an IV at home on occasion.

This is what killed my mother, more or less. Mom was living with my stepfather and his daughter who was a RN who lost her license because she is a druggie. The daughter called to let us know mom was slipping away and if we wanted to say goodbye, we should come right away. I told my sister the only reason I could think of why she was dying was lack of food and fluid. My sister flew from Florida to Minnesota to hydrate mom and she perked right up. Six months later she died of dementia related dehydration. The ex-RN made sure the second time to not let anyone know that she was letting her dehydrate to death.

All you can do is keep pushing fluids. Try adult diapers to minimize the bathroom trips.

You can always place a nasogastric tube when she gets too weak to resist. Her doc can supply you with what you need including training. Restrain her if need be while you hydrate her.

[jdc]

Speedy wrote:
The ex-RN made sure the second time to not let anyone know that she was letting her dehydrate to death.

Dayum. Sorry.

I think I might have given her a permanent long walk in the Mojave with no water if it were me...

[Numo]

Thanks to all caregivers here.

[August West]

That's rough, Speedy.