Dementia Does Not Discriminate
This post is not funny, clever, or witty (not that my others are either! lol) and probably won’t appeal to many of you, but it is sincere.
As promised, I said I would pass on things about dementia as I learnt about them, and if nothing else, Dad and I have hopefully helped others by raising awareness of Alzheimers and of the challenges we face as a family. We are not looking for sympathy, we just want to make a difference and educate others.
Dad has degraded in recent months with his speech being severely affected. He recognises family members, but only knows a few names and has lost most of his memories.
This means we spend many hours just hanging out in mainly silence and maybe having a coffee, kicking the footy or eating meals.He is not engaged in any activities,tv, games or books which means you have someone who is constantly lost with nothing to do.
Dad’s motor skills have also been affected which means table tennis lasts about 5 minutes, he shuffles where he used to walk and he loses just about everything.
Simple tasks like cleaning teeth, showering,shaving and turning on a tv are now difficult and assistance is needed. At times he also becomes agitated and may refuse medication or refuse to do what the carers ask of him. Unfortunately the wonderful traits you are famous for, sometimes get lost with dementia.
We laugh about things regardless and treat each day like another Seinfeld episode. Dad tried to use a clip coat hanger as a belt recently which is an example of how his mind now works. He wanted something to hold his jeans up, and just chose the wrong thing. I thought it was funny at the time, but also sad. He also may wear 2 jumpers or his pajamas over his clothes which is probably not in fashion at present:-)
We visit nearly every day, and enjoy hanging out together. You can’t get your time back and we all now certainly live in the moment. I recently enjoyed a xmas lunch with all the residents of his Aged Care facility and once again have to give a huge shout out to all the carers and registered nurses that do an amazing job with limited resources, low pay and very difficult job conditions.
This is Dementia.
