Caregiver Holiday Spotlight: Patience Is A Virtue

 

A caregiver’s gentle persistence during the holidays pays dividends for a woman living with dementia and her daughter

“I like to treat others as I want to be treated,” says Nicole. “If it were my mother, grandmother, or another loved one in the same situation, I would want someone to be loving to them. When it comes to Lucy, I come to work prepared to love on her.”

Four years ago, when 88-year-old Lucy fell and broke her hip, her daughter, Katie, knew it would be the start of something new. She moved her mother, who has dementia, into an assisted-care facility. It’s an all-too-common story: Two more falls, two more broken bones, and Katie worried ceaselessly. And then Nicole came along.

Katie had contacted BrightStar Care, and Nicole became Lucy’s caregiver. For Nicole, working with Miss Lucy, as she calls her, is more than a job.
 

It’s the little things

Katie describes her mother as an “80-pound force of nature” who likes to stay up late, sleep in, and has her own way of doing things. Lucy likes her clothes hung a certain way in the closet, her bed made to military standards, and to go outside on a sunny day.

Lucy can be demanding, and sometimes stubborn, and Nicole tries to get it right the first time. “I pay attention to little things that make her happy,” says Nicole. It didn’t take long for Lucy and Katie to notice—and appreciate—Nicole’s attentiveness.

With Nicole’s gentle but dogged encouragement, Lucy has also started eating dinner in the dining hall, playing Bingo, and occasionally staying for Happy Hour. “Being among the other residents…makes her feel better than being in her room,” Nicole explains.

Katie is amazed, and grateful, to see her mother so well cared for and engaged in life.

“When you climb up that same mountain and get pushed back down day after day, you finally think, ‘OK, let her have her way,’” she says. “But Nicole encourages (my mother) every day. That doesn’t mean she’s always successful…but Nicole continues to try."

Call 866-618-7827 or contact a BrightStar Care® home care agency near you to learn how your loved one might benefit from in-home nurse and caregiver support services.

 

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Source: https://www.brightstarcare.com/blog/lucy-nicole-dementia-falls-care

BrightStar Care of Wayne, NJ provides a full continuum of home care services comprised of companionship, personal care, and dementia care. BSC Wayne, NJ is honored to care for the many individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia with continued support to all our Family Caregivers this holiday season.
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