7/30/19
Grandma went to a birthday party today for lunch. They had a nice little get together at Red Lobster. I adore that my grandma’s friends still try to get together. Sometimes her friends will come pick her up if one of us isn’t able to take her. They meet up a couple of times a month. Besides birthday parties they usually have a senior lunch or brunch. This Friday is bingo man do they get serious about it (lol)
As per usual grandma is taking her daily nap. Today was a little different. She came home and forgot where she went to eat, until she was reminded. We asked her what she ate and she couldn’t remember. She’s starting to struggle getting up from the couch. I also noticed today that she’s starting to have trouble going up stairs. We don’t have but 3 steps but I have noticed a difference.
Something interesting that she does…. She always wants to go to the bank. She’s always worried about her check book or if she has enough money. She’s been doing ok lately but there’s this one “man” that she owes money. That one is kind of a trip to hear about. She’ll get these odd kicks of thinking she owes people money, or she has bills to pay. She’ll tell us she called the bank, but we unplugged the phones awhile ago. One time I woke up from a nap and it was almost 9 o’clock at night. She had all the lights on in the house looking for a phone book to call the bank. So we just figured it was best to unplug the phones. She wouldn’t remember calling the bank anyways if she did.
She can get these weird kicks at anytime but I also heard about seasonal sundowning. “A common symptom of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, sundowning involves an increase of agitation and confusion, which occur during the early evening hours or late afternoon hours.” I have attached an article that goes in depth of explaining sundowning. https://www.alzheimers.net/how-seasonal-sundowning-can-affect-alzheimers/
Sometimes she’ll pace the house. She’ll be flustered because she can’t remember. She worries but can’t help it. It can be difficult to calm her down. So I started looking into how to manage her behaviorally changes…. This seemed to be a helpful article. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/managing-personality-and-behavior-changes-alzheimers
On a different note, I told her last week about what my project was. I told her the title and she seemed to really enjoy it. She laughed and said I should write a book. I just laughed with her. I reminded her today what my project was. She once again enjoyed the title and liked my idea. She said she wants me to start writing her stories as well. I’m not sure what stories she means. It could be stories from her childhood. It could be stories of her grandparents but who knows. I’ve heard a number of her stories and I’m excited she wants me to share.
Another day and we’re doing alright…..
