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Posts Tagged ‘Dementia’
The Car, The Key, The Brain and Dementia
About two weeks ago, my husband and I were leaving church but his car key wouldn’t unlock the door. Thinking his key battery was dead, I tried my key and it wouldn’t unlock the door either. After a few minutes, it finally worked. Thinking it was a fluke, we forgot about it until a few days later, the car wouldn’t start. I called my mechanic who told me that after about six years, the car can begin to forget the key. My car is 10 years old, so supposedly it is overdue.
I put an update on my Facebook page that said:
My car and key have become estranged. The car doesn’t recognize the key – gotta order new ones so I’ll be out of commission for a while until new key arrives. Almost got stranded at Walgreens yesterday when the car would not start.
What I wanted to say is – my car has Alzheimer’s; but Facebook isn’t the place to put a politically incorrect statement without an appropriate explanation.
I looked at the key to my car and thought about how it reminded me of the brain and dementia. They key has two batteries in it that power locking and unlocking the doors and the trunk. But it also has a little computer chip in it that is kind of the brains of the car that tells the key which doors and trunks to unlock. In addition to starting the car, the key aids in programing driver preferences. For instance, when I start the car with my key after my husband has used the car; it also adjusts the seat, lumbar support, side view mirror and steering wheel position to my preferences. My husbands key does the same.
To rectify this problem, we had to take the keys back to the dealership. They ordered the keys from Houston to be programmed based on the VIN number for the car. Of course, I’ll have to reset my preferences, but when I get my keys back, they should recognize my car so it will do what it is supposed to do. Right now I am waiting for the dealership to send me new keys.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our brains could be re-programmed like car keys. What if someplace there was a blueprint of our brains that could be reprogrammed when parts of our brains forget what they are supposed to do? Wouldn’t it be great if it was just that simple?
Note: My new key came in after I finished this post. We had to let it sit in the ignition for about an hour to download information from the car. Amazing!
Don’t you think it would be great if we could do this with people?
It’s A Family Affair
It’s been almost two years since we started taking care of Gladys. We have had our share of good days and bad days. We’ve had many moments of laughter and times when we just wanted to scream. The one thing that has been consistent in our caregiving is teamwork. It’s something that I cherish and it’s something that I’m well aware that some families don’t have when it comes to taking care of elderly family members.
Our normal morning routine is: I wake Gladys up, get her showered, dressed and hair combed. Fred prepares her breakfast, takes it to her room, gives Gladys her morning medicine and then her breakfast. The routine isn’t perfect because sometimes we disagree on what he prepares or the amount of food he gives Gladys. Sometimes I want him to give her yogurt with her breakfast but since he doesn’t like yogurt, he won’t give it to Gladys either. So we have basically come to an agreement – if he feeds her, I can’t tell him what to do. So yogurt usually ends up being one of her snacks or she’ll get yogurt when I fix her breakfast, which is usually once or twice a week.
Gladys has a good appetite and looks forward to every meal. On Saturdays she often gets one of her favorite meals – cinnamon, raisin bagels, cream cheese, coffee and yogurt. When she sees the bagel she starts singing the Campbell Soup song, “mmm, mmm, good.” Breakfast today was oatmeal, prunes and a glass of milk. I thought she had too many prunes but I didn’t say anything. I thought about slipping a few of them out of the bowl but I didn’t. 
A Few Days In The Hospital
Last month we had to put Gladys in the hospital. I went to check on her shortly after breakfast and she was listless, skin clammy and nauseous. I called her doctor who said to take her directly to the hospital. Several tests were taken and blood work done but with no definitive answers. So they wanted to keep her overnight.
Of course by the time they decided they needed to keep Gladys overnight, we had been at the hospital for five hours. We were taken to a room where a nurse came to input Gladys’ information into their records. Everything was computerized and it was the nurses first day on the job. It took another hour to put in the same information that I had given the emergency room personnel. I really didn’t understand why it had to be done again.
She’s So Sweet
After getting Gladys settled in, both the nurse and the doctor on duty came by to get acquainted with me and Gladys. When they were leaving both of them looked at me and remarked, “She’s so sweet, she’s precious.” I just looked at them and smiled. I knew there would be trouble.
Gladys was scheduled for an MRI and when they came to get her she wanted me to go with her but I told her I couldn’t. I could see the fear in her eyes because she didn’t understand what was going on. I tried to explain that she was going to get a test done and that they would take good care of her. After she left, I told the nurse that they would need to raise the rails on the bed and watch Gladys because she would try to get out of the bed, even though she can’t walk without her walker. I went home while she was having the MRI.
Restrained and Sedated
When I came in the next morning Gladys’ roommate told me that the nurses had to restrain Gladys, the nurse told me they had to sedate her. I had a real problem with her being sedated because I know the sedative causes her brain to malfunction. Gladys did not know who I was. I could see it before I even talked to her. I asked them not to sedate her again. If she became combative, I wanted them to call me and I would come back to the hospital. We only live 10 minutes away.
What the hospital didn’t understand is that Gladys did not become combative because of the dementia. She became combative because she couldn’t have her way. That was her MO, when she couldn’t have her way she either had a tantrum or she would fight. Fortunately, there were no more problems.
All Is Well
After three days were were able to take Gladys home. There were some issues that were the result of massive doses of antibiotics, but they eventually cleared up. All is well but Gladys is a little slower and her cognitive abilities have diminished a little more.
