Seeking Advice to Support a Relative
I am seeking some advice and looking for suggestions to help an older relative, 70-something Female.
She had a mass removed from her brain over a year ago, the details of which I am not 100% informed. Prior to surgery, this mass was affecting her speech, the fine motor movements of her hands, and her balance.
Surgery was a one-time operation, it was successful in removing the mass, but as her doctor suspected, a lot of her symptoms did not resolve and would not be expected to improve with time.
Post surgery, she still has a lot of slurring and difficulty annunciating and pronouncing words. Sometimes when she is tired or stressed, she has difficulty speaking and getting the words from her brain to come out of her mouth (in non-medical terms). Most recently, she has had worsening upper body 'contractions' as she calls them, where her muscles spasm and interrupt her speech and movements for a second or two. She is getting an MRI and further testing to see what this is about - results TBD.
She has lived alone for many years but has one very supportive and loving friend. Family members, including myself, are 45 min away and we see her occasionally and on holidays, and meet up for lunch sometimes, etc.
She is still independent but some loss of peripheral vision is threatening her ability to keep her driver's license. I am not sure if this is related to her brain mass or not, but no matter. It is still a looming threat that she is very stressed about.
I am not seeking medical advice - I am looking for ways to support her independence, help her morale and her mental health, and ways to keep her busy throughout her day that won't be too taxing on her energy levels since stress and tiredness tend to cause her symptoms to worsen.
I am grateful for any insight as to how I can help her and support her. She would kill me if she knew I was asking the internet for help, but I love her and I want to be there for her and I don't know what else I can do. Any insight, advice, and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!