Sunday with

[Guest guest]

Things are changing again.

I picked my mom up yesterday to spend the afternoon with me as we do most

Sundays while my husband is at work. She was happy in her childlike way,

and glad to come over and play with the dogs and sit on the porch and watch

the world go by, as she always likes to do. (Our colors are FANTASTIC right

now, it's like our northern Michigan home is surrounded by rings of fiery

golds and reds all around, it is nearly blinding in its beauty!)

Well for one thing she's become incontinent. During the last week she has

been wet every time I've seen her, and in the process of changing her

clothes again. They checked for a UTI, there is none. They've been trying

to get her to wear depends-type unders but she says they make her pants fit

funny. So she's spent much of her time sitting on her bed on a pad, and

changing her clothes as she wets them, even though she does go to the

bathroom when she gets the urge - but she says she just goes and doesn't

know it sometimes. They are going to check with the doctor about this...

Meanwhile, yesterday she soaked herself here and went into the bathroom to

wash and change. I gave her a depends and fresh underwear and slacks of

hers that I have here. She came out and started walking around the house

with only her sweater on, and said she didn't know what to do. She had

rearranged things in there (the shower mat, the bath mat,

toothpaste/toothbrushes, etc.), rolled up the pad and put it in the first

aid drawer, and so forth. As I gave her things one at a time and told her

what to do with them, she was able to do them, but was unable to process

more than one thought at a time (underwear first? or pad? or pants?).

She enjoyed her time on the porch and was conversant as usual but with the

added behavior or blurting out names or addresses from her past, and also

spelling things: " Garden City, BARTON! B-a-r-t-o-n. " " Crowley's!

C-r-o-w-l-e-y-s. " And people's names, mostly from her childhood, the same,

and dates of things. But when I'd ask questions or talk about things, she

would respond somewhat appropriately - such as answering a question about

people with an answer about people but not necessarily the right people, or

about places, or whatever.

Another new thing was she walked around the house and picked things up from

everywhere and asked, " Now, where should I put this? " and when I'd tell her,

" Where you just got it " she didn't remember even though only 3 seconds had

passed. So I had to give a specific answer, and she would comply. But that

was the main activity of the day, was picking things up and asking where to

put them.

Usually we stop at the store together, and she likes to sit in the car and

smoke and people-watch while I run in for something, yesterday was no

different in that respect except that I came out of the store (I only went

in for butter, was there less than 5 minutes) to find her wandering outside

the car. A little scary... I liked doing an errand or 2 with her each week

because that's a " normal " thing, not because I needed to. But I will have

to evaluate very carefully whether that practice will continue...

So while things seem worse in so many ways, yesterday she remembered details

that she usually doesn't. Typically she can't describe, and doesn't

remember, anything about the nursing home when she's not there although it

all comes back to her as we're driving up the hill and she sees it when we

take her back...but yesterday she was describing (and spelling) the rooms

and the colors and the people. And she also remembered, for the first time,

her house and how to get there and the roads and the stores and the details

about the house itself. This hasn't happened ONCE since she left her house

for the last time in March. But yesterday, she was remembering all sorts of

things, yet her behavior was so much different.

This is a very very strange disease indeed.

But all the while, she was happy and laughing (not always appropriately) and

enjoyed her day immensely and didn't want to go back. Usually she gets her

own diet cokes out of the fridge, comes and goes from the front porch, plays

the piano, vacuums, does whatever she wants and I'm just there doing my own

things. Yesterday she needed constant supervision, which was rather

exhausting but at the same time because she was laughing and so childlike

and having such a great time all day, it was fun for me also...and

fascinating as I noticed all the things she that were different.

One last thing. Her roommate told me that she hasn't played the piano in a

couple of weeks, that someone would ask her to play and she'd sit on the

bench and stare at it, but didn't seem to know what to do with it. That

saddens me but I know that it can change again, and may come back...she

expressed no desire to play mine yesterday either, though she usually does.

I'm sorry this is long, things are just changing. When I see her at the NH

she is in her environment and her routine, so the changes (other than the

incontinence) aren't quite as noticable I guess? Although I've been seeing

them of course but not as much as during the 8 hours she was here yesterday.

Gwen and I would rather have her happy even if confused, than more lucid but

angry or depressed, so I wouldn't change anything anyway, but could all of

these changes be from changing her seroquel dosage 10 days ago? She was on

25mg a.m. and 50 mg p.m. but they changed it to 50 mg BID...

Any thoughts are welcomed but mostly I just wanted to share the changes, I

don't really see anything I'm worried about as long as she doesn't have a

UTI or other infection or illness.

His,

Sherry

Houghton Lake, MI

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