Wow! I have more photos from Monday, so I hope you'll forgive me for posting a couple more of them...I just discovered I'd taken many more than I'd thought!
This morning, I went to pick Mom up for Mass. When I arrived, the Med-Aide was already putting on her stockings! Yay! She asked if I'd rather do it, I smiled and politely refused. It's nice to see how Mom reacts to someone else doing the chore.
It would seem that Mom had fallen asleep at the breakfast table, and she complained that there were just too many people going in and out of her room all night long.
Mom told me, as she was getting herself ready, that this morning Dad had stopped by and they'd chatted.
"About what?" I inquired.
"Just things married people talk about. Nothing really all that interesting," was her response. "Then he left to check things out in another part of the building, but he hasn't returned. We should probably wait for him."
"Well, we can do that, but we're already late. If he wants to come, then he can meet us there."
She responded positively to this.
I asked her about her week and she told me that I owed her an apology. I was supposed to take her to see family yesterday. I reminded her of Monday, but she told me that was all talk; it never happened, and was supposed to have happened yesterday. <sigh>
On our way to Mass, she inquired about her mother. She wanted to know if she was invited to lunch with us, as our grandmother had always been fond of Jean and vice versa.
"I doubt it. I believe Gag (our grandmother's nickname) has other plans."
"Well, she wouldn't if she'd known!" was her response. I then segued to her BINGO game. The trick worked.
Later, at Jean's, she demanded I phone my grandmother and invite her over. So I faked a call and left a "voice message" for my grandmother. I suggested she was out shopping, possibly with Jean's mom. Jean went along with this.
Mom kept bringing up people as though they were still alive, and that she'd visited with them this week. Her grandmother, her mother, my dad, her brother. She even told me I was out of line when she asked about Dad's siblings and mother, and how they were doing. I told her Uncle Bob was dead, and she thought I was just awful! So, we played along.
Her stockings seem to be another sticking point for her. She told me they needed to be changed every hour. Then, later, it became every 8 hours.
She told Jean that it was necessary, with these compression stockings, they be hand-washed nightly, and then dried in the forest on trees and such. I believe Jean asked her to clarify this, and thought, perhaps, it made more sense to dry them in the shower, but Mom told us that it was supposed to be in the woods!
Okay.
We had a pleasant lunch, and then we headed back. Mom was tired.
I had spoken to the staff a little over a week ago about her clothes and having them all cleaned. They needed the time, on Sunday, for me to take her out so they could go through her things and get all the dirty items from her closet and drawers (Mom is oblivious to dirt on her outer clothing - her undergarments, I believe, she won't wear more than once without laundering). She has been wearing clothes that she hides from them (so they won't wash them - I know, it's odd), so this was imperative. I cannot have my mother going out with food clotted clothes!
When we came home, though, she had folded towels on her bed, all the clothes in the closet were clean and hanging, and there was a sense of freshness all around.
Mom was upset they had gone through her laundry hamper!
Oh Oh. Well, at least her clothes are clean.
So, it's off to another week for her.
She is walking more with Mo, at the facility, but her energy levels are dropping, it would seem. Not sure why.
We're trying to keep her away from so many sweets, as well, so the RLC will be looking into alternative treats (perhaps the dried cherries and blueberries in her upper cabinets would do....). She was out of oranges because, she stated, people have been stealing them! Truth is, it's been over a month since I bought any, and I realized she hadn't put any in the drawers or cupboards or boxes in the closet - so she had actually eaten them! So, this week I probably should swing by with a bunch.
I'm hoping there is a plateau in this hallucinatory chapter - but I fear not. This could become the norm, now. I sense frustration in her, then a sense of calm, knowing everyone is still around. Her brother is teaching at University of Washington on a sabbatical, all her other relatives are about, and Dad is visiting her. This is actually somewhat comforting rather than disturbing. If you need to know why, I'll let you think on it.
Till next week.
Ciao.
This morning, I went to pick Mom up for Mass. When I arrived, the Med-Aide was already putting on her stockings! Yay! She asked if I'd rather do it, I smiled and politely refused. It's nice to see how Mom reacts to someone else doing the chore.
It would seem that Mom had fallen asleep at the breakfast table, and she complained that there were just too many people going in and out of her room all night long.
Mom with Bernie's son, Josh (her grandnephew)
Oh dear. The hallucinations are beginning to rear their head again.
Mom told me, as she was getting herself ready, that this morning Dad had stopped by and they'd chatted.
"About what?" I inquired.
"Just things married people talk about. Nothing really all that interesting," was her response. "Then he left to check things out in another part of the building, but he hasn't returned. We should probably wait for him."
"Well, we can do that, but we're already late. If he wants to come, then he can meet us there."
She responded positively to this.
I asked her about her week and she told me that I owed her an apology. I was supposed to take her to see family yesterday. I reminded her of Monday, but she told me that was all talk; it never happened, and was supposed to have happened yesterday. <sigh>
Little Pete and his wife, Alicia and grandchildren
"I doubt it. I believe Gag (our grandmother's nickname) has other plans."
"Well, she wouldn't if she'd known!" was her response. I then segued to her BINGO game. The trick worked.
Later, at Jean's, she demanded I phone my grandmother and invite her over. So I faked a call and left a "voice message" for my grandmother. I suggested she was out shopping, possibly with Jean's mom. Jean went along with this.
Mom kept bringing up people as though they were still alive, and that she'd visited with them this week. Her grandmother, her mother, my dad, her brother. She even told me I was out of line when she asked about Dad's siblings and mother, and how they were doing. I told her Uncle Bob was dead, and she thought I was just awful! So, we played along.
Her stockings seem to be another sticking point for her. She told me they needed to be changed every hour. Then, later, it became every 8 hours.
She told Jean that it was necessary, with these compression stockings, they be hand-washed nightly, and then dried in the forest on trees and such. I believe Jean asked her to clarify this, and thought, perhaps, it made more sense to dry them in the shower, but Mom told us that it was supposed to be in the woods!
Okay.
We had a pleasant lunch, and then we headed back. Mom was tired.
I had spoken to the staff a little over a week ago about her clothes and having them all cleaned. They needed the time, on Sunday, for me to take her out so they could go through her things and get all the dirty items from her closet and drawers (Mom is oblivious to dirt on her outer clothing - her undergarments, I believe, she won't wear more than once without laundering). She has been wearing clothes that she hides from them (so they won't wash them - I know, it's odd), so this was imperative. I cannot have my mother going out with food clotted clothes!
When we came home, though, she had folded towels on her bed, all the clothes in the closet were clean and hanging, and there was a sense of freshness all around.
Mom was upset they had gone through her laundry hamper!
Oh Oh. Well, at least her clothes are clean.
Mom has a bamboo orchid in her room, now.
She is walking more with Mo, at the facility, but her energy levels are dropping, it would seem. Not sure why.
We're trying to keep her away from so many sweets, as well, so the RLC will be looking into alternative treats (perhaps the dried cherries and blueberries in her upper cabinets would do....). She was out of oranges because, she stated, people have been stealing them! Truth is, it's been over a month since I bought any, and I realized she hadn't put any in the drawers or cupboards or boxes in the closet - so she had actually eaten them! So, this week I probably should swing by with a bunch.
I'm hoping there is a plateau in this hallucinatory chapter - but I fear not. This could become the norm, now. I sense frustration in her, then a sense of calm, knowing everyone is still around. Her brother is teaching at University of Washington on a sabbatical, all her other relatives are about, and Dad is visiting her. This is actually somewhat comforting rather than disturbing. If you need to know why, I'll let you think on it.
Till next week.
Ciao.
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