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Don't keep ice cream in the house! You can provide individual serving size treats so she still can enjoy her favorite safely
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Reply to JeanLouise
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Your concern for your mother’s health is reasonable and admirable- we take care of the people we love. We try to do what’s best for them. Sadly, your mother is at the end of her journey and she is a person who gets to make her own decisions, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else or cause great harm. You have to switch your mindset to understand that loving and caring for her now means letting her live her last days as she wants. That said, perhaps you can buy smaller containers of ice cream so she doesn’t eat the whole carton in one sitting. But it’s all temporary. Mentally, start doing the work of letting her go. And let her enjoy the ride. It isn’t really about the ice cream- it’s about losing your mom - which you can’t control - so you are trying to control what you can. Just hug her and tell her what a great mom she was and make her smile. 😊
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Reply to NadineAnne
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I can only say do not worry about it. She is getting calories, she is enjoying herself and if you were at the end of your life journey would you want your food intake restricted? It's a hard concept to come to grips with but in the end it will ultimately not matter.
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Reply to LindaSG
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BurntCaregiver Sep 6, 2024
@LindaSG

Yes, I believe I would want my food restricted unless my checkout time was looming very near.

I know what it's like to have been morbidly obese. With mobility issues this is going to cause a lot more pain and suffering than a little dietary restriction.

I was a homecare worker for 25 years. Let me tell you thin people with mobility issues and incontinence who don't have dementia are hard enough to keep clean and dry. Even with the best and most frequent hygiene care they still get skin breakdown, fungal skin infections, incontinence sores, UTI's, and yeast infections.

Add obesity to the job and the odds of getting these conditions really increase and hygiene care becomes impossible in private residence. Many times size is rhe deciding factor of why a person gets placed in facility care versus being kept in their home.

So yes, I'd rather have calorie restriction and die in my beautiful home then be allowed to stuff myself with ice cream in a nursing home.
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I am with the group who says “let her eat what she wants”
as long as she isn’t diabetic or has some other health issue where sugar and fat could be a problem.
if she is otherwise healthy then let her have ice cream. If you are concerned about the amount, then maybe try to control the portions. You can buy ice cream bars or portion out the ice cream. She may want more than 1 serving but I believe in the end she will eat Less.
Its very easy to eat a tub of ice cream that’s just staring at you in the freezer. All you need is a spoon and you can go to town and eat it all without thinking.
Let her have it. It what makes her happy and just don’t keep ice cream in half gallons. Portion it out.
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Reply to Monicaj0421
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We know that it is frustrating. How is her diet otherwise? Is ice cream a substitute for real food? Is some added weight going to affect her mobility? What is her A1C? Does so much ice cream relieve constipation or cause diarrhea? At this point in her life having something that she truly enjoys overcomes most other concerns, but also check for other issues before doing anything else. Portion control might be as simple as filling bowls (like for leftovers and much bigger than ic ecream cups) and only leaving a few where she has access. Try to keep her calm. Never get angry or frustrated with her. Tell her that they are to make it easier for her. Maybe include some special flavors. Don't mention portion control. And if all are gone, before you bring more, apologize and tell her that youll try to do better. We do similar with my wife every day. Good Luck.
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Reply to MikeinTexas
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It is her one joy in life.
so without it, no joy? Then let her have her ice cream.
When my father was slowly dying, we tried to keep him healthy. I was filling him full of sprouted green, lentil soup. all in the hope he would recover. He didn't . he loved ice cream. we let him have it rarely because it is so unhealthy. I don't think that it would have made a spot of difference.. only that he would have been happy in some way. Maybe less angry and abusive at least.
I know it is hard, but her life is never going to come back so now, sit with her and have ice cream, find the tasty healthier ones if it makes you feel better but her freedom to choose her life is over now, this is all she can choose.
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Reply to FarFarAway
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With a loved one in end stage dementia who has lost 50lbs he can eat what ever he’ll eat whether a Little Debbie , ice cream, chicken nuggets or his fave frozen coke. In a terminal illness it truly doesn’t make a difference. .. not bs not cholesterol nothing. He loves his treats and due to lack of long term attention and memory he doesn’t know if he just had some or not. As a retired RN we practiced healthy eating and exercise but now we make memories as limited as they are and we just pull out an extra spoon and have alittle together as a family. There was one caregiver a few mo ago who’s dr said her LO was prediabetic… we have seen normals for a healthy person change to be lower making drs prescribe more meds. Just like statin drugs for cholesterol but we failed to realized our brains need fats to be healthy… are we increasing the Alzheimer’s as a result ? The verdict is prob still out . So mine eats what gives him pleasure and for me that is truly a happy moment I will chose to remember. Maybe next time I’ll throw some bananas and a few healthy chopped nuts and whipped cream on it with a cherry on top 😉👍🏻❤️
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Reply to Db2024
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Dementia and Altzheimers is primarily caused by hyperinsulinemia and associated inflammation. This is directly caused by excess glucose from a diet full of carbohydrates and sugar. It is essentially type 3 diabetes. You should not feel guilty nor wrong for any attempts to provide a dementia/Altzheimers patient with a no sugar, low carb diet. New research is showing that a ketogenic and/or carnivore diet can reverse or slow Altzheimers and dementia, especially when combined with good sleep, exercise and sunlight.
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Reply to Nick1984
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Anxietynacy Sep 7, 2024
I honestly know very little about the carnivore diet, but I feel like it could be extremely dangerous for anyone. And when I hear about it I get chills.
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