Tips For Caregiver's

People with Alzheimer's disease frequently become more disoriented after dark or when waking. Leaving a night-light on in the bedroom may be helpful.

~WebMd

Monday, September 24, 2007

Stealing

Last month, Wednesday, August 29, 2007, in Money...Money...Money...M-O-N-E-Y I wrote about Muddear's obsession with money and how against my better judgment, I gave her $10.00 dollars. In Faster Than Expected posted on Monday, September 3, 2007, I shared that within five days, Muddear had lost $5.00 of the $10.00 dollars I had given her.

On Saturday, September 22, 2007, as expected and less than 30 days from the initial post, Mike and I have officially become thieves. It all began so innocently...I was sick and Mike spent the day running back and forth to Muddear's room fulfilling her every wish. Around 8:00 p.m. after dispensing medication, Muddear began calling Mike. She said she needed a new sock, because her sock was wet. That was when Mike discovered that Muddear's housecoat had fallen into her bedside commode and was dripping urine down her leg and onto her feet. (I know - bad visual) After cleaning everything, including Muddear's legs, Mike also helped Muddear change socks. Then the drama began...

"Mike come in here! I need you to come in here!"

"What's wrong Muddear?"

"I'm missing something. It was in my sock. Give me my sock back."

"Muddear, what are you missing? I will check your sock."

"Just give me my sock!"

"Muddear there is nothing in it. What did you have in your sock?"

"My money! Give me my money!"

"I don't have your money. That is why Nikki gave you a container to place your money in - so you wouldn't lose it."

"I didn't lose it somebody took it!"

"Muddear, nobody stole your money."

For the next hour or so Muddear was yelling and screaming. There was no appeasing her and everything Mike said to her started another argument.

"Mike, give me my money back! The reason you won't come in here is because you know where my money is!"

"Muddear, I don't know what you did with your money. The reason I won't stay in your room is because I am not going to argue with you."

"You know you took it! You know you know something about it!"

At this point, Muddear began calling on the wrath of God to get Mike. Poor Mike was getting frustrated and I was too sick to intervene. We just let her fuss herself to sleep. Was there any other alternative?

2 comments:

Shadowspun said...

There was no alternative. You have no way of convincing them once they set their mind on something that it's not true. With my grandmother it's my mom and I moving or throwing her things out, even if she actually helped her favorite daughter do the moving of the item in question. Mom and I are still the culprits because we live here. You can only argue so much without wanting to bash your head into a wall.

njm said...

Shadowspun,

Wow! Someone who knows what it's really like. Sometimes I feel bad for walking away, but I have to. I don't want to argue and I don't want to be yelled at for hours on end. Thanks for the encouragement and the understanding.