Recently, I have made some changes to my mother's environment. The aides have changed and so has the agency from which they came. Let's hope this agency will prove to be more organized. I sometimes wonder if you need any education at all to man these agencies? For instance, speaking English, I don't believe is a necessary requirement nor is having any organizational skills. I know that the coordinator of these programs must put together a schedule for dispatching aides to various locations and I would think organizational skills are mandatory, but on more than one occasion an aide has not been notified to come to my house when the permanent aide has called out. Hence, after two years of dealing with constant miscommunication I was advised to change agencies; so, I did. Unfortunately, so did the dispatcher. Hopefully, she did not go where I went; wouldn't that just be a kick in the head!
I took my mom to see her neurologist last week. Doctor Gorgeous, not his real name but certainly an accurate description, is one of the kindest doctors I have met in dealing with my mom’s illness. He makes himself accessible to me through emails which works better than taking her to visit him because she becomes disoriented when her routine is disrupted. I keep him up to date on her condition via email, not as much fun for me, but better for her. This last visit took two days to get over because for some reason she thought she was going for a haircut and when that didn't transpire she berated me for not doing anything for her. I wish he could have given her a little trim it would have saved me from her wrath.
As per his suggestion, I stopped the Seroquel but kept the Zyprexia. Unfortunately, she has gotten up three out of five nights trying to get out of the bed. Sometimes I think if it isn't broken than don't try to fix it. Same thing with the changing of the aides. Although one had to go, the other one did have a connection with my mom and my family. Since she's gone, and the new aide who is really nice has taken over, mom doesn't really speak too much, nor does she engage in conversation like she used to. I'm not blaming it on the aide, I think she might be depressed, I know I am. I also think this is a natural progression of the disease and/or a reaction to change. Am I right or does life suck?
Lately, her mouth is more often than not filled with saliva and runneth over like Niagara Falls, and her knowledge of where she is has greatly diminished which at times works to our advantage. When we watch Secretariat she insists on placing a bet and than she wants to know how much she's won. Any movies shot in other countries or periods transports her there faster than the Concorde. While she is able to feed herself she doesn't realize how much is going into her mouth. When you talk to her she nods, but very little conversation takes place. If I ask her why she doesn't say anything she tells me, "What do you want me to say?" Or, "I'm not ready." Boy, I wonder what she's going to say when she is ready?
"We're not in Kansas anymore?"
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