Searching for a Home

While you might think this post is about Henry and I searching for a home, it isn't. Because my grandmother (paternal) has Alzheimer's, we are currently searching for an Assisted Living Facility that specializes in dementia care for her to reside.

Hmmm, that's a lot of heavy info for one sentence.

That said, since her diagnosis in '06, we, as a family, have been very fortunate to have Mattie, Nana's sister, as her caretaker. She's been over-the-top amazing in openly willing and desiring to care for her. Such a blessing.

However, now there's a definitive change in the progression of the disease, and we feel it's best that we transition Nana to a new residence soon. We are all in the middle of visiting communities to find which one best fits the needs Nana has at this point and moving forward, as best we can predict. We've been to three appointments thus far and have four more from now until Monday. From there, we'll meet and discuss what is best.

There's more to consider than any one of us realized going into this. While we want her to be able to walk, play games, and live as independently as possible, the previous appointments we have had have opened our eyes to other possibilities that she might need. That said, it's hard for us to know which of any of these attributes is truly important for her specifically.

I've browsed through the discussion boards on the Alzheimer's Association website, but I still haven't found anything that really makes me feel like I have anything to add to our decision or ask anything additional of these communities. While it's in no way the same level of importance, but I feel like it's trying to pick a doctor in this city. Hello! We live in the Med capital of the nation; picking a good doc is hard even when we are supposed to have only the best here. It's somewhat of how I feel when going to these appointments at these communities. I feel like they will all do a good job, but it's just a matter of deciding what is right for Nana. Weighing in the opinions of 8 people doesn't make it any easier.

I've tried to ask about people's experiences through different avenues, but that doesn't seem to be helping either. I suppose it's a good thing that not many people have ever had to do this, but...right now...it'd be nice to have people that have this experience and know what to add to the conversation. Ultimately this is an experience that...looking into the future...I hope brings us all closer together, but it, of course, is not an easy one to make.

If you've done this before, how did you decide on the community you selected?