Slipping The Moorings
Every year since the Millennium (and a number of years before - 2000 was an honourable exception spent looking at Big Ben and the Wheel) we have spent New Year with an old friend in the wilds of the Derbyshire Dales. This year we came up on the Saturday after Christmas. The journey was uneventful; we listen to a lot of music and sing along where we can, which Rosemarie likes.
Something seems to have happened after our arrival, however. I hope it is temporary and related to being away from the familiar sights and sounds of home. I noticed over the two days of Christmas we spent with our daughter that she needed constant reminding of where we were and why. In Derbyshire it is slightly different.
It is now almost impossible to understand what she is saying, and she has great difficulty understanding anything that is said to her. She frequently seems to be carrying on a conversation with someone who is not there for us but seems to be visible to her. From the context it sometimes seems to be one of us she thinks she is talking to, but she is looking in the wrong direction, and it is difficult to tell.
Her ability to focus on anything passed to her or pointed out to her has pretty much totally disappeared and she is at risk attempting to sit unaided. Often her awareness of the chair seems non-existent and all she is aware of is the desire to sit. Other times she leans against the arms of the chair and tries to slide in. It all depends on where her centre of gravity is whether she winds up in the chair or on the floor.
Some of the time she knows where she is but at other times she barely acknowledges our world around her and our host is convinced she is not recognised.
Whatever memories she experiences are profoundly affecting her and setting her emotional dials. We have to deal with the consequences and answer for any wrongs she has remembered others having done to her. In an instant she moves from being equitable but opaque to angry and borderline violent.
If I leave the room for more than a minute or two she can get very distressed and upset and on my return I am met like a long lost lover. If I come back too early I am just another punch bag.
This is alarming and I hope it is related to the change in routine and the erratic consumption of Donepezil (90% of the time asking her to take her medication is interpreted as physical and emotional abuse and I am subjected to a torrent of unintelligible vitriol).
Happy New Year.
?
Something seems to have happened after our arrival, however. I hope it is temporary and related to being away from the familiar sights and sounds of home. I noticed over the two days of Christmas we spent with our daughter that she needed constant reminding of where we were and why. In Derbyshire it is slightly different.
It is now almost impossible to understand what she is saying, and she has great difficulty understanding anything that is said to her. She frequently seems to be carrying on a conversation with someone who is not there for us but seems to be visible to her. From the context it sometimes seems to be one of us she thinks she is talking to, but she is looking in the wrong direction, and it is difficult to tell.
Her ability to focus on anything passed to her or pointed out to her has pretty much totally disappeared and she is at risk attempting to sit unaided. Often her awareness of the chair seems non-existent and all she is aware of is the desire to sit. Other times she leans against the arms of the chair and tries to slide in. It all depends on where her centre of gravity is whether she winds up in the chair or on the floor.
Some of the time she knows where she is but at other times she barely acknowledges our world around her and our host is convinced she is not recognised.
Whatever memories she experiences are profoundly affecting her and setting her emotional dials. We have to deal with the consequences and answer for any wrongs she has remembered others having done to her. In an instant she moves from being equitable but opaque to angry and borderline violent.
If I leave the room for more than a minute or two she can get very distressed and upset and on my return I am met like a long lost lover. If I come back too early I am just another punch bag.
This is alarming and I hope it is related to the change in routine and the erratic consumption of Donepezil (90% of the time asking her to take her medication is interpreted as physical and emotional abuse and I am subjected to a torrent of unintelligible vitriol).
Happy New Year.
?
posted by Other Kosh at 9:01 pm
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