Well, spring has sprung and I'm hoping that things get at least a bit more tolerable for both of us. I had to move my Mom out of the other place. She just didn't adjust at all. It was awful for her. None of the residents were verbal and she felt totally isolated. Also, she and that caretaker never did resolve their issues. It was so clear that they despised each other. It sucked having to move Mom again and have her adjust to another place, but it was the best decision for everyone involved. All of our sanity depended on it.
Mom is actually adjusting pretty well to the new place. It's like night and day. All of the caretakers are friendly and happy, and they really care about their clients. There is laughter and one of the caretakers even waltzed her into the door one day when I brought her back from the Alzheimer's Center. They try to work with me to keep Mom as happy as possible. They even take her on walks and such. It's making a huge difference. The only things are that the disease is progressing so rapidly and she is so paranoid about eating. (Well either paranoid or saying her tummy is sick, which is probably because she's taking a lot of meds and not eating enough to settle her stomach.) Getting her to eat is like pulling teeth. It's awful. I've started buying Ensure and Boost, and even then, she'll only drink vanilla. She says everything she eats is too sweet. If it's not too sweet, then she's paranoid about choking, because it happened a long time ago and that's what stuck in her head.
As for the disease progressing, she doesn't even remember the people she sees 3 days a week at the Alz. Center. She's got a "boyfriend" there, but each time I pick her up, she tells me that she just met him that day. In fact, a few weeks ago, she even hallucinated that they went to his apartment for the day. So random. The Center is locked, so there's no way that happened. She also had a hallucination that someone broke into her room one night, which the caretakers had to deal with. She's on a medication that's supposed to help with those things and the appetite, but I don't think it's working. She's got a psych appointment next week, so we'll see how that goes. Maybe they'll increase the meds.
I'm trying to stay positive, but it's so painful to realize she's slipping away from me. It hurts a lot. It's very hard to deal with, but I'm gonna keep on truckin'.
Finding the Fun:
1. We took a trip to the library across the street from her home and she absolutely loved being there. We had a great time browsing books and getting her library card.
2. Last weekend, we went to my favorite park with a big lake and the wonder in her eyes while watching the kids play and the geese run around was pretty fantastic.
3. Mom painted this lovely pot for me at the center and they planted the flower inside. :)
