Hi Barb,
<snip>

I'm kind of new here.  Why does she need her liquids thikened?  I noticed my
mom jokes on her food and drink at times.

<snip>
She always sits on the arm of her chair instead of the seat thinking she's
in the seat, <snip>

The doctor ordered home health care physical therapy for my mom after she
had a short stay in the hospital and was walking poorly - shuffling her
feet.  I mentioned to the P.T. that she always plops down in her chair and
most of the time sits on the arm of the chair.  He showed her, and had her
practice the proper way for her to sit down.  He had her back up to the
chair so she could feel the chair on the back of her legs.  Then slowly bend
forward, reach back to hold onto the arms of the chair, and slowly bend her
knees and sit down.  Now when she sits down like that she gets a big smile
on her face.

Take care,
Julie

Dear Barb,

That is how my mother in law got just about a year ago.... not being able to
sit in the place she intended, and sleeping long hours, and developing
balance problems.

It was then we realized that she could seriously hurt herself and began
considering placing her in a nursing home.    But for a long time we did
deal with it ourselves.   She fell several times, usually in the night
trying to find the bathroom or her bedroom, but also she just keeled over a
couple of times during the day especially if she was tired.    We walked
with her everywhere she wanted to go so that wouldn't happen.

We never stopped her from having her coffee, nor did our doctor ever suggest
it, but we did limit her sugar and carbohydrate intake since she was
developing diabetes.   We always used decaffeinated coffee in the house and
they told us that was what they used in the daycare center too.   That was
pretty much the only dietary issues we had at home, though I found it harder
and harder to get her to eat certain foods, like meat for instance.   She
always would eat home made soup, so that was what we made a lot of!

I think that when a person is her age, and suffering from alzheimers, it
doesn't much pay to stop them from eating or drinking almost anything they
like, with the exception of foods that will affect their life in a VERY
direct way.   For instance, when Ida ate a lot of carbohydrates, she would
have to go to the bathroom constantly, sometimes every hour all night long.

Regular coffee would probably interfere with sleep, but decaf would most
likely not hurt......