For some reason, these last couple of weeks seem to have sucked the wind right out of my proverbial sails. I’m beat. Laid down on the couch around 8pm last night and slept until 9:30 this morning. Restless sleep, but sleep none the less.
I’d been looking forward to driving to Butler after work yesterday to visit with my dad, but Mom took a pretty nasty fall in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving. She literally looks like she has a broken nose; complete with swelling and two black eyes, but oddly (and thankfully) there is no pain at all. We have poked, prodded, and twisted, and she just looks at us and laughs. I pinched her lightly just to confirm that she does still recognize pain and she yelped, so I don’t know how in the world that nose couldn’t be hurting like hell, but I’m glad it isn’t.
It took several hours for the swelling and bruising to appear, so I figured I would rather just stick around this weekend in case something odd happens and it gets worse.
We talked Thursday evening, and decided a baby monitor might be a good idea since she has been sleeping in her room more (for a long time, she spent all night in the living room). This is actually the second recent “injury” that has occurred overnight. At least with the monitor, the night girls will know when she is stirring.
In the meantime, I told her all we need is a pair of boxing gloves and she’ll be ready for Halloween…. (((sigh))).
The Long and Winding Road... 
So sorry Ann. What an incredible daughter you are! Just remember to take care of yourself!!
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Thanks Aimee… xo
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Hi Ann, It’s me, Kathi Shelley. Love your posts, by the way. I can really feel lost, but you help me find my way again. My DH is the one w/Alz. His name is Pat. I have a question. Is it “normal” for Alz patients to feel anxious, sad, lonely, and/or lost when the sun goes down? He never has liked winter becuz of the dark days, long nights, etc. But this is something new. He confessed to me this evening that nighttime bothers him because he can’t see the sky. It’s a good thing we don’t live in the country. He has always been sort of OCD, and our youngest daughter has it big-time! The other kids and I don’t have it, thank God. I’d drive myself crazy if I had it. I find that if we can stick to our daily routine as much as possible, life runs pretty smoothly, but if I’m not home by 5 pm and dinner on the table, it throws him way off kilter. I suppose this is normal, too? This is all so new to me, we’ve been in this mode for only 3 years. When did your mom give up driving? Pat is still driving, only here in our small city, to Walmart, the clinic, and 2 grocery stores. He has said he doesn’t want to drive this winter (we live in Wisconsin). Thanks again for your help. hugs, kathi
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Hi Kathi! It’s good to hear from you. I’m so glad you find this blog helpful!
The issues you describe as occurring in the early evening are very common for ALZ and dementia patients. And, as you mentioned, it’s always worse in the winter as there is less daylight.
Here are links to a couple of good articles describing sundowner syndrome, as well some tips that might help your husband.
http://www.alz.org/care/alzheimers-dementia-sleep-issues-sundowning.asp
http://www.caregivers.com/dementia-and-alzheimers/care-tips-for-dementia-and-sundowner-syndrome/
As far as Mom driving, that’s something I’ve been meaning to write about – it was one of the most difficult things for me personally, and maybe that’s why I tend to avoid the subject. In hindsight, I let her drive much, much longer than I should have. I knew that taking away her car was like ripping her last bit of independence from her and that was so painful.
Initially, we limited her to driving only in daylight hours and only within a very small radius of her house. However, it wasn’t long before a few things occurred that were sure signs she absolutely could not be behind the wheel of a car. I’ll talk more about that in a post later this week.
Sending you (((hugs))) from Ohio – hang in there and take care of YOU, too.
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