When my mom was first diagnosed I was really lost when it came to helping her. Soon after her diagnosis my mom moved in with us. Luckily we had a bedroom open as a child had recently moved out. We realize not everyone has this opportunity and we are really lucky.
Slowly my mom started to lose her freedoms and this has been the most frustrating experience for her. We quickly realized she could no longer drive as she stopped in the center of a traffic circle and was rear ended.
We have a 60 lb dog and he is very strong. She would often like to walk in the backyard with him. One day he saw a squirrel and pulled her over. That was the end of that. She has low bone density and we are trying our best to keep her out of a hospital environment as long as possible. Her primary explains: you go to an emergency room with a broken hip -> they send you to a care facility. My daughter taped a sign to our front door that read “Grandma don’t take the dog out!” .
Because the muscles in her throat are getting weaker she needs to be monitored when she eats. And she often forgets to eat or drink water so we have a set schedule for that. This makes traveling often difficult.
She takes medicine for bone density, cholesterol, and 2 memory related pills. She also takes (gummy as they are easier to swallow) multi-vitamins and a Calcium/vitamin D supplement. Pill organizers are readily available. We use a plain 7 day box. She helps me fill it weekly and instead of just telling her what day it is I give her a riddle (for example – some people call this Hump Day).
Mom is an avid reader and we go to the library weekly. She also travels everywhere (including the living room!) with her purse. In it is a small spiral bound lined notebook. I created sections and placed tabs on them. These include people (she makes notes when we see people with their names and how we know them), places (when we travel she writes down where we have gone and what we have done there), things (just random notes), books (that she would like to read) and quotes (she loves quotes!). This has helped us with remembering.
We often give her books for her to record any memories and I have photo books printed of all of us in different places with easy to read names and places.