Mama

My experiences while living with my mother and her Alzheimer's Disease.(her birthdate = January 2, 1925)

Saturday, May 31, 2003

We got up around 8 this morning, ate breakfast, watched a little television, ate lunch around 9:30; went to visit Dan and Charlene; came home, ate supper around 12:00; then Mama went to bed for the night. It is 5:45 P.M. and she has wandered through a few times fussing at me for not going to sleep. I did take a bit of a nap earlier, but I don't think even I could sleep from one in the afternoon until morning.

Uh oh, she just came in dressed and ready for church. She said, "It's time to go. We need to go." Now I must go convince her that it is really Saturday night and not Sunday morning. Wish me luck!

coming soon: Mama's Checkup!!!

Thursday, May 29, 2003

I can't believe I forgot to tell this part of my story. I was out playing with Bandit last night when out of the corner of my eye I saw an animal walking along the fence-line farthest from the porch. At first I thought it was a cat because Penny had said she caught a glimpse of one earlier in the week. I looked directly at it and discovered it was black with a white stripe down it's back. Yes, it was a skunk acting like it belonged here. Now I understand why Bandit has had that distinct odor for the past few days. He must not have gotten a direct spray, but he has been close. I also now understand why he has been barking so much each evening!

Guess I will call animal control if it keeps showing up. I don't ever recall seeing any around before.

Mama went to bed early again. I tried to keep her up, but she refused to listen to me. I guess I had better get ready for another fun night!

Later,
Connie

Thankfully Mama slept well last night. She tried to go to bed early again, but I took her riding for a bit. That put her going to bed a little later than the day before. She got up a few times before I went to bed, but was fine after I settled for the night. Either that or I was so tired, I didn't hear her--don't think that happened though.

I figure Mama is mentally between 2 and 3 now. Penny says she and Madison (Penny's 3 year old) get along just like two kids that age--a little fussing, a little hugging. Penny said that one day Madison crawled up in Mama's lap and Mama started rubbing her hand over her hair and calling her Connie.

The more I hear about that PremPro, the more I think that may have started Mama's problem. How sad that something that was supposed to keep her healthy, may have caused her problems.


Need to go dig a path in my bedroom. Penny has taken Mama to the beauty parlor. Thank goodness as she really needs her hair washed! Mama was sick one week; her hairdresser was gone on vacation last week; so it has been a while since her hair has been done. My head itches just looking at hers, but it doesn't seem to bother Mama at all!!

Hugs,
Connie

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

It amazes me that I thought living in the country would be boring. Mama and Bandit have provided me with plenty of entertainment.

I worked on cleaning up my room at school yesterday. I didn’t quite get it all organized, but I did get it mostly put away. In August I will be searching for all my treasures wondering where in the world I hid everything.

I got home around 4:00 and was greeted by Mama and Penny, but not Bandit. I called him, but he didn’t come. I would go out every so often and call for him, but he still didn’t show up. I was worried since the last time this happened, he had run away or gotten lost and we had to go find him. Mama ate early and was headed for bed by 5:15 P.M... I wanted to drive around and find my puppy, but I couldn’t leave Mama at the house alone. I coaxed her into going for a ride with me. Just as she opened the door, Bandit flew up on the porch, panting and jumping all over us. I tried to tell Mama we didn’t need to go anywhere, but I may as well have been talking to the wall. I decided to go to the Post Office since I hadn’t been yet. She was fine with that.

When we got back to the house, Mama went right to bed for the night. I tried to convince her that it was too early, but once again I might as well have saved my breath since her mind was made up! So I wished her Good Night and she headed for Sleepyland!

I had bought an exercise ball a while back to help strengthen my back. I haven’t used it much because I didn’t have a video. Monday I tried to boost the economy of Lake Jackson, and one of my purchases was a video to go with the ball. I decided it was a perfect time to try that out. Now remember, I had worked all day in my classroom, cleaning and rearranging. Am not sure an exercise routine on top of all that physical activity was such a good idea. Mama stuck her head in the living room a few times and laughed at me trying to keep my balance, and then she would go back to bed. By the time I finished, my back was killing me so I decided to soak in the tub. That helped some, but I still had trouble getting settled for the night. I had almost dozed off and Mama came in to ask where her “things” (cookies) were. I found the bag of crumbs, and she went back to bed. I dozed off again.

Around 2:30 A.M. Mama opened her bedroom door flooding my room with light. (My room is next to hers, and I keep my door open so I can hear her.) She was already dressed for the day. I tried my best to persuade her that it was the middle of the night; she wouldn’t believe me. She headed for the kitchen and fixed her breakfast. I drug myself up and moved to the couch in the living room as she fussed at me to come eat. She finished up and came into the living room, turned on the light, opened the curtains, tried to open the front door, and sat in her chair. She started fussing for me to unlock the deadbolt on the door. I did not want her wandering around at 3ish in the morning so I refused. She pulled out every pen and pencil she could find to pry open that door. She would work and work, then sit down and rest, then get up and work and work to get the door open using new equipment every time. I heard her digging in the drawers in the kitchen around 4:30; she came back with a screwdriver and a whisk. Guess she thought she could “whip” the door open. I chuckled and dozed back off. I heard her digging in the refrigerator; she came in with a baby carrot. She worked and worked and worked to fit that carrot into the keyhole. When that didn’t work, she tried to push it between the door and the facing—I never would have thought of using a carrot as a key or a crowbar!! She would stop periodically and fuss at me to open “that thing”. I just turned over and tried to go back to sleep. I think she went in the laundry room and tried to get out the back door, but alas, it has a deadbolt, too. Around 6:30 I gave up and opened the door. She said, “Oh, you did that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” And proceeded to walk out the door and around the house which is what she had been trying to do since 3:30. I was too tired to stop her so I just let her go figuring it was her exercise program for the day. She came back and was “so surprised” no one was out there. Duh!

She ate supper at 7:00 A.M. and went to bed for the “night” at 8:30 A.M. She is now (10:00 A.M.) sawing logs for who knows how long. I sent Penny home as there wasn’t much she could do while Mama slept. Am sure as soon as I decide to nap, Mama will pop up and fix breakfast, AGAIN.

So how was your day?