It is truly hard to imagine the impact that Dementia/Alzheimer's Disease has on the mind until you have an opportunity to experience it first hand. In January of this year, I purchased Muddear a new calendar. Normally, I purchase a wall calendar full of pictures - from flowers, to landscapes, they are always quite beautiful. This year, I purchased Muddear's 2010 calendar a little later than usual, which meant the selection was less diverse than normal. Nevertheless, I found an adorable calendar full of pictures of puppy dogs. Cute right? Wrong! The calendar lasted no more than two months. About once a week, Muddear would come into the hallway and start calling us in a panic. "Come quick, there is a man peeping in my window!" Of course, I tried to reason with her by explaining...
"Muddear, your room is on the second floor, it isn't possible for someone to peep in your window." That didn't work. Therefore, I went into her room to explain further. It was then that I realized every time that Muddear thought the calendar was a window and the puppy picture was a man. Initially, I thought she would get used to the calendar and these panic attacks would stop. They never did. So today, after about eight (8) weeks - the calendar was removed and I'll have to purchase a new one tomorrow.
When someone has Dementia/ Alzheimer's Disease there are times when the simplest things can be very challenging. This situation was definitely a learning experience for me. It is important to keep things as simple as possible for Muddear. There are things that she remembers fairly well - like her daily routine. That is because we keep Muddear on a regular schedule - bath's on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with wash-ups on Tuesday and Thursday; towel folding on Thursdays; breakfast at 9:00 and lunch at 12:30; calendars with flowers and landscapes. No Changes. A calendar with puppy dogs was apparently too much change - I should have figured that out immediately instead of causing weekly panic attacks. Muddear, I am very sorry!
*Image courtesy of Wikipedia
.jpg)
6 comments:
Correctly your article helped me truly much in my college assignment. Hats incorrect to you send, intention look forward in the direction of more interrelated articles promptly as its anecdote of my pick question to read.
Anonymous,
What type of college assignment are you working on?
i am looking after ex wife/she has dementa /i found it is as if there sole slowly slips away/other signs/
blank face/ hides things /sunken eyes/
Chris,
Being a caregiver can be extremely difficult, especially for someone with Alzheimer's/Dementia. Another way to describe the illness is sufferers seem to revert back to childhood. Either way it is difficult to watch.
Do you have a good support system in place to help you?
Sorry for my bad english. Thank you so much for your good post. Your post helped me in my college assignment, If you can provide me more details please email me.
A learning experience for sure but also a cute story. We need to look at the bright side of every experience.
Post a Comment