“Dealing with Dimentia/Alzheimers”

I’ve decided my Blog should be called “The Kitchen Sink”. I never have just one topic I’m thinking about. My thought patterns follow the events of my life.

Right now, my life is revolving around the end-of-life issues facing my family. My mom is 93 and fading fast. She recently suffered a series of small strokes called TIAs and then a larger one just this past weekend.

As I posted about the accumulated effects of her dementia and the stroke, I’ve learned that so many others my age have had or are experiencing the same things.

Dealing with dementia/Alzheimers can be both sad and humorous, depending upon the moment. It also requires an enormous amount of patience.

Mom will ask a question and it’s as if she hasn’t heard the answer. Within a ten-minute period the same question is answered ten times.

The saddest part is when she asks where Dad is, and has to be told again and again and again that he has passed away. This also means that her grieving is refreshed regularly.

On a brighter note, all things are new. Her visitors are new faces, her room is a new place with a somewhat familiar feel, conversations are new as are the pictures and knick knacks in her room.

“Where’d that come from,” is a frequent query. “Where am I?,” is another.

“What happened to me?” was a frequent refrain at the hospital this past weekend.

Now that she has returned and resettled in her own room in Memory Care, she is feeling more secure. She is rested and at peace.

But her constant mantra remains, “I have lived long enough. I need to just die. I’m tired.”

Such is the state of life…or is it?

Maya Angelou said, “My mission is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

I liked that. I hope that I can have that. But I worry as I watch Mom. At this point Mom has a different mission.