Separate meal times - a caregiver necessity
I love my father, I really do, but I can't eat at the same time he does. In order to be able to have something to eat, and not have the ....................... (pause as I go see what my dad needs me for)..... hot food get cold or cereal get soggy or ice cream melt... you get the idea. It's not at all easy to coordinate eating and caregiving since the care recipient may eat faster than the caregiver and want coffee after they eat.
Add in things such as the person wanting to have more of something when you are only just starting to eat, their coughing on food or their drink, their not telling you for 15 minutes that you forgot to bring them their dentures, their staring at a plate and not eating because they don't see the fork laying on the left side of the plate... the list goes on and every thing added is just another reason why it is neigh impossible for a caregiver to manage to eat a proper meal.
It's no wonder I put on 85 pounds from the time I started being a caregiver to the start of my serious efforts at dieting a few months ago - and have only lost 20 pounds of that weight gain over the past few months.
Caregivers are constantly on the go. Rushing to get a napkin, refilling a glass of milk, finding the pepper, .......................(another pause as I go see what my dad needs again)............ Anyway, there's always some reason why you can't eat properly and other reasons why you can't eat at the same table as the care recipient. Try eating across from someone that wants to take out their dentures now that they're through with their dinner and you're just starting to enjoy your own.
Night before last I had to make mom deal with dad's choking because I was afraid I would create a bigger mess from the nausea gag reflexes I was experiencing as I tried to help him. I ran off to hide in my room. :-/
So, I've been eating my food separate of when my dad eats, which means I have to miss out on mom's wonderful cooking most nights. At least by eating a hour or so before or two or three hours after my dad eats I only have to worry about him needing something my mom can't take care of for him.
Food still gets cold, but at least I can eat it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: the pauses are not for effect, those actually are points where I had to take off for 5 to 10 minutes to see what my dad needed - leaving my eggs and toast sitting here by the computer. Thankfully my weirdo cat don't like people food, so the eggs are safe.
................(Add in another pause before I could post - this time it was because my mom needed me for something)
Add in things such as the person wanting to have more of something when you are only just starting to eat, their coughing on food or their drink, their not telling you for 15 minutes that you forgot to bring them their dentures, their staring at a plate and not eating because they don't see the fork laying on the left side of the plate... the list goes on and every thing added is just another reason why it is neigh impossible for a caregiver to manage to eat a proper meal.
It's no wonder I put on 85 pounds from the time I started being a caregiver to the start of my serious efforts at dieting a few months ago - and have only lost 20 pounds of that weight gain over the past few months.
Caregivers are constantly on the go. Rushing to get a napkin, refilling a glass of milk, finding the pepper, .......................(another pause as I go see what my dad needs again)............ Anyway, there's always some reason why you can't eat properly and other reasons why you can't eat at the same table as the care recipient. Try eating across from someone that wants to take out their dentures now that they're through with their dinner and you're just starting to enjoy your own.
Night before last I had to make mom deal with dad's choking because I was afraid I would create a bigger mess from the nausea gag reflexes I was experiencing as I tried to help him. I ran off to hide in my room. :-/
So, I've been eating my food separate of when my dad eats, which means I have to miss out on mom's wonderful cooking most nights. At least by eating a hour or so before or two or three hours after my dad eats I only have to worry about him needing something my mom can't take care of for him.
Food still gets cold, but at least I can eat it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: the pauses are not for effect, those actually are points where I had to take off for 5 to 10 minutes to see what my dad needed - leaving my eggs and toast sitting here by the computer. Thankfully my weirdo cat don't like people food, so the eggs are safe.
................(Add in another pause before I could post - this time it was because my mom needed me for something)
posted by Sandra at 11:09 AM
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