With an elder with dementia at home…from the Newspapers, translated…
My mother is eighty-six, the neurologist diagnosed her with dementia, she’d been accepting and open to new things, so we didn’t, feel compelled, to keep the truth of her condition from her, we’d told her, “We will be here with you every single day”, even if she’d forgotten us all one by one in the very end.
In order to make her feel more at ease of the fact that one day, she may not recognize any of us, based off of the information we’d found, the demented elderly will not lose her/his ability to love and to be loved, I’d often bear hugged my mom all the time, just hoped, that after she’d forgotten me, she can still recall the warmth from my hugs, and not felt lonely or alone.
hug often, love a lot…tips for taking care of your loved one who are diagnosed…photo from online…
My mother’s progressions were slower, in the nine years’ time, the close by family members who’d looked after her she’d still remembered, in the latter stages, she could still use her eyes, and her breaths, to reply back to us.
In order to help her strength her musculature, we’d walked with her inside of the house for twenty minutes after the meals, and in the sunny days, we’d taken her around the neighborhood for her regular strolls, and at dusk, to the marketplaces to be involved in the crowds, to shop at the supermarkets, to the parks, to savor the tastes of her younger years. My mother’s sight deteriorated, but, she’s focused on the bright colors and the various shapes on the magazines, she could sit and flip through the pages for a long time. In order to encourage her to go outdoors, we’d had her favorite children and grandchildren to accompany her to visit old friends, her siblings as well, to revisit the town she grew up in, to the dormitories she’d lived at when she went to school, and her favorite cherry blossom trails.
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festivals, we’d had her get involved in making the celebratory food items, my mother who’d been a good cook, became the master chef.
arts and crafts can give the elderly a sense of achievement, photo from online…
Every time she’d started hallucinating, we’d turned the lights on in the house, pushed open the windows, opened up the doors, hugged her tightly, proving to her, that strangers she saw, were nothing more than imaginary, to console her, that she didn’t need to fear, with us close by her side.
As my mother, who’s a Christian started slurring her speech, we’d used the shortened phrases to guide her in the prayers, this was a medicine for the soul, the psalms, the classic tunes, the Christmas lights, the music, and the golden deer trinkets, they’re, reminders of our shared happy times each and every single year.
We are all very blessed, that my mother without major progressive conditions, who’s always mild and wise, in the process of being taken over with dementia, was able to gracefully, go towards the end of her life.
So, this showed, how you can still be graceful toward the end with dementia as your constant companion, the help, the understanding from the loved ones is a must, so the elderly doesn’t feel all alone, and will have the needed social, emotional support s/he needs, to finish this life in full-color.
Life, the Obstacle Course 