Day and Date Display For Senior Citizen

[Warren Sear]

My 85 year old mother is dying from pancreatic cancer. I stayed with her last weekend and brought her to chemotherapy. Her memory is gone, and she knows it, and this frightens and embarrasses her. She has to take different medications on different days, and the whole time I was there she did not know what day it was; she was wrong every day. I am sure she is making mistakes taking her medication because of not knowing what day it is.

I was hoping to find some kind of digital display that could sit on her counter top and plainly show her what day it is. I looked on the internet, but everything I found was extremely complicated, multiple alarms, remote controls, etc. I want it super simple, with no buttons to push. If anyone could offer me help or insight, I would greatly appreciate it.

According to the experts, she has less than a year left to live, and I want to make her remaining time as stress free and comfortable as possible.

Here is a picture of her and my dog taken yesterday before I had to go back home...

 

[rwsmith]

Google....

Date/Time digital clock for elderly.

There's stuff on Amazon

Apparently other people have similar needs. I'm sure I could use one now.

The best to you and your Mom.

 

[Marine Corps Air]

Warren,

Will one of these solve this problem for your Mother?

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=clock+wi...=day+&+date+clock,aps,177&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16

Bill

 

[Warren Sear]

^^^ Marine Corps Air, those are the exact ones I was looking at! Way too complicated. I want one with just the day, or maybe the day and date. Thanks for your help, though.

 

[xray97]

Like 5he others I did a quick search on Amazon and found a couple likely candidates for about $49.
All the best to you and your mom.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I am sorry to read this. I offer my heartfelt prayers that your mother's remaining days are as comfortable as possible.

 

[Marine Corps Air]

Dasy and Date Display For Seniors

Warren,

Thanks for the feedback. How about this solution?

Robot Check

When my father-in-law was near the end, the caregiver used a small chalk board and wrote the day and date for him when she arrived each day.

BTW - I lost one of my best friends to pancreatic cancer last May. He was only 68. All cancers are really bad, but this one is the worst of the worst!

Bill

 

[chiefbob81]

Aids will not help. Set her up with a visiting nurse. Been here tried everything. Nurses are great, compasionate and bring added value.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I'm so sorry to hear of your mom's cancer, and my heart goes out for you.

Medication mistakes by her might not have a simple fix. I think you may find mom's abilities won't be supplemented enough with a clock, to enable proper medicating, or at least not for long. Some supervision may be necessary.

Perhaps if you were familiar with her medication regimen, it might help you manage things from afar. This is a spread sheet I made and found useful for the care of my mother and father-in-law at the end of their lives.

If there were a trusted aide for mom, perhaps an automated dispenser like this would help:

[ame="https://www.amazon.com/MedELert-Locking-Automatic-Dispenser-Covers/dp/B0147HTHRI/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=automatic+pill+dispenser&qid=1578371699&s=hpc&sr=1-4"]Amazon.com: Med-E-Lert Locking Automatic Pill Dispenser with Alarm and Transparent and Opaque Lids - New and Improved Most Recent Released 2019 1.0PREMIUM Edition - Organize, Remind, Thrive!: Health & Personal Care[/ame]

You and your mom are in my prayers.

 

[Bekeart]

I like the digital auto setting clocks - using signal from WWVB.
Search with google did not find the one I have.

Home Depot has several. This on is listed for $26.76

https://www.homedepot.com/p/La-Cros...ERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-300887762-_-206999859-_-N

Bekeart

 

[armorer951]

Sorry to hear about your mom.

Perhaps her doctor could approve/recommend a home health care service for her. They would visit on a daily basis, and monitor her medications so she doesn't have to worry about making mistakes, etc. They can also regularly monitor her overall health, etc. Medicare/Medicaid should take care of the cost....or most of the cost of this service.

A clock may help, but she may not remember to look at the clock, and may not remember whether or not she took her medications or not.

 

[ameridaddy]

Warren, I had a similar situation with a good friend and neighbor who had both cancer and Alzheimers. She passed on last July.
Each of her meds were to be taken daily, some morning, some evening, so I set up with the pharmacy and her doctors for a 90 day refill cycle, all starting the same day.
Then I bought her 13 SMTWTFS pill boxes in a morning color, 13 in an evening color and filled them right up. I numbered each box 1, 2...13 and laid them all out in order on a kitchen counter.
For the most of the last year of her life, until she had to go into a memory care unit, she was able to follow the sequence, the SMTWTFS on the boxes telling her what day of the week it was, and all I had to do was look in on her now and then to be sure she was doing OK with her meds.
If you live close enough, I hope this might work for your mom.
You and she are in a tough situation, and I really feel for you.

 

[URIT]

Does this memory lose day and date display work for you? My wife uses pill keepers that store a week's worth of daily use. [ame="https://www.amazon.com/DayClox-Original-Digital-Calendar-Non-Abbreviated/dp/B00L1XCBSO"]Amazon.com: Dayclox – The Original Memory Loss Digital Calendar Day Clock with Extra Large Non-Abbreviated Day & Month. Perfect for Seniors: Home & Kitchen[/ame]

Someone would have to load them for her and monitor their use.

My MIL had Alzheimer's and we paid a neighbor to stop in twice daily to check on her until she got so bad she needed assisted living. We also hired a lady to clean and prepare a week's worth of simple dinner meals.

 

[Warren Sear]

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I have found what I was looking for.

She is in transition to assisted living, so I am not seeking advice in that regard. She is shook up by the fact that she can't keep track of what day it is. I think knowing what day it is will give her comfort even after she gets into assisted living.

Scary times for her.

 

[ancient-one]

I think assisted living, if they monitor her medications and make sure that
she is offered food, will help. Pancreatic Cancer was what killed my wife and for several weeks, toward the end, she had to force herself to eat. Very bad cancer.

 

[woodsltc]

I am sorry to read this. I offer my heartfelt prayers that your mother's remaining days are as comfortable as possible.

What Rusty said expresses my feelings exactly. Prayers sent & God Bless.

Don

 

[fiasconva]

My mom, who is in her 90's and has some dementia, has a couple of "atomic" clocks that give her the day, date and time on a large display. It's accurate and easy to read and easy for her to see. They come in different sizes so you may want to look into one of those.

 

[Onomea]

Two more thoughts: A digital watch with large day and date display. An Amazon Alexa device.

You can get an Echo Dot (small Alexa device) for $30. Once set up, if you ask "Alexa, what is the day today?," it will say, "It's Wednesday January 8th." Or ask the time. Etc, etc., pretty much ad infinitum.

There are wall clocks, too, with Alexa built into them.

There are also Alexa skills (programs or apps) that help seniors manage medicine use, although those seem at a glance perhaps a little complicated for someone with dementia.

 

[Tom Kent]

You and your Mom are in my prayers. I would suggest going to an office supply store like Office Depot and looking at their digital clock offerings. You will probably find several that show the day/date/time without a whole bevy of controls.

 

[Warren Sear]

I got this one ordered today, and it is supposed to arrive there on Thursday. This is almost exactly what I wanted (it would be better without the clock). I appreciate everyone's input.