Caregiving Daughter

In my earlier posts, Part 1 and Part 2 of Keeping Mom Happy for My Son’s Birthday Party, I was getting the house cleaned up for my son Tyler’s party and trying to ward off the possibility of Mom being angry and acting out is a disruptive way.  She suffers from dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and we have had problems with her perceiving people and situations the wrong way and becoming angry.

In yesterday’s post, after trying all day to get her to take her medication, she finally took her Zoloft (for depression).  Of all her prescriptions, this is the one that makes the most dramatic difference in her mood and behavior.  I felt relieved knowing that at least she had taken that one.

We left with the kids to go to the bowling alley.  Everyone had a good time, and I was able to relax a bit.  After we bowled, I dropped off my daughter and her friend at her friend’s house (the last thing I need to worry about is any boy-girl drama!).  We picked up some pizza and headed home.  On the way home, I explained to the boys a little about Mom’s condition. 

We pulled up to the house, and Mom was standing at the door in her robe.  I thought that maybe she hadn’t expected us back so soon, and she might hurry back to her room.  Instead, she opened the door and very kindly greeted everyone.  She stayed up and joined us for the pizza and later the birthday cake.  She commented several times on how nice the boys were.

The next morning, Mom was still very pleasant.  She did ask three or four times when the boys would be going home, but she did not seem annoyed.  The most ironic thing that happened was she asked them all to pose for a picture before they left.  It was funny because the weekend before she was so upset with my daughter and her friends because she thought they had snapped a picture of her without asking! 

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