Ten-thirty a.m. Mac is still lying in his bed, he is dressed, but when the preposee tried to get him to go to breakfast, it was no no no. There it is the up and downs of this disease..she said he was so aggressive and tried to punch her..yet yesterday he was so fun - and so it goes..one day up the other day not so UP.
On the way down to see him I passed one of my neighbor's apartment, the door was open as her three children were moving her stuff out. At first I thought oh no another one gone, but apparently she is no longer able to look after herself, and is moving down to the second floor. Her son said it was a hard decision.
Yes, don't I know how hard. My friend and support person in the Alheimer's Support Group is also going through this, her mom is in the midst of moving to a room in the residence behind ours, this one is really almost hospital-like. The residents live in one room and the floor is managed like a hospital floor..with one room serving as a kind of lounge. She was never able to get up in the morning, most days she would stay in bed till three o'clock in the afternoon, then want to stay up watching t.v. till very late. I find that if Mac can be in bed asleep early in the evening, mornings are much easier, don't know hat happened last night as when I left him he was sleeping, it was eight thirty p.m. Perhaps there was a ruckus and noise later that kept him awake..in any case I'll go down in a bit to see if he wants to have a little breakfast.
The past week he has been, for the most part, fun, easy and even joking, when I said to him as he was walking away from his chair..where do you think you're going, he said, "I'm jumping over the fence" and laughed.
Many times he seems to realize he is kind of a prisoner, and this is the case with many of the residents with the big A. They wish so much to see their own home, their mother (funny, never their father)and often try to go out of the building. Those that can walk around on their own to a certain degree, wear a type of bracelet, which causes the doors to lockdown if they do try to get out. For some of my visitors this is off-putting and they kind of cringe - but I think having some sense of freedom is a blessing.
I could leave Mac on the second floor all day, but walking, talking and seeing different locations even if it is in the building gives his spirit a lift, just as listening to music, and of course eating sweets.
When he lost his appetite after his operation, making the food sweet by adding a bit of maple syrup, ketchup or a sauce helped kick-start his appetite. Now food is no problem, but again this is also not a given, this is on and off as well.
Not to forget, the memory of how to do so many things is being lost, i.e. chewing, swallowing, tasting, in the way of food. Remembering how to sit down, how to stand, how to walk, what is the toilet for, when do I need to go, how do I pull down my pants etc etc. This is my dilemma, I must keep those things in mind as when he is ON, I take it for granted that he can do all these things, but as the months go by each activity becomes a thing of the past..so this blog is a help, it goes back to a time when he could and did much more...and seeing the other residents on his floor makes me know that in time he will not even be as able as he is now..
Simone the 90 year old little singer on his floor, was singing the most appropriate song at suppertime last night...un jour a la temp mon Jesu, I'm probably spelling this wrong, but it means One day at a time , one day at a time, that's all I ask sweet Jesus, one day at a time.
So now to get on with this day...one day at a time...
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