Enjoying the Small Triumphs of Caring for Alzheimer’s Patients
November 19, 2008 by Mary Emma Allen
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Alzheimer’s Triumphs
As I recall my experiences with Mother and Auntie and read some of the comments I receive here at Alzheimer’s Notes, I realize there are small triumphs, or joys, if we’ll but recognize them…and remember them.
Write them down in a notebook. You can read them when you have frustrating days and add to them as you go along. I find, even several years after Mother and Auntie’s deaths, that remembering these incidents can bring a smile and fond thoughts about these ladies.
Amanda says: I’ve worked with demntia patients in a nursing home, and it’s very sad to see what there going through. But I found it very rewarding also since they are still wonderful people even though they’re lost in time.
I like Amanda’s expression that they’re “lost in time.” I learned to enjoy my experiences with Mother in another dimension of time.
Krystle, who enjoys working in geriatrics, says of one patient: He had lost ability to speak and had to be led around wherever he needed to go; eventually he lost the ability to walk. One day, after I had worked there a year or more, he spoke to me. He asked me if we were going to go get something to drink. The entire time I had worked there I had never heard him talk. It’s the small triumphs that mean all the world with Alzheimer patients.
Yes, I agree with Kristle. Those small triumphs, whether you’re caring for a family member or someone in a nursing home, make it all worthwhile.
What are your small triumphs with your Alzheimer’s patient?
(Worldwide Sport Supply image)
Last week, I had Mom sitting on the toilet and I was trying to encourage her to urinate. I said, “Ok, let’s make peepee. SSSSSSSsssssss.” When I ran out of breath, Mom put her lips together and went “PTptPTpt.” I said, “Mom you sound like a motorboat!” We both broke out in laughter. I’m glad she still has a sense of humor.