Maggie called me this afternoon somewhat distressed. Before she could even get into what the problem was I could hear Mom crying out in the background that she "wanted to go home, somebody help me, I don't want to be here". Evidently as Morris was leaving several minutes earlier and told Mom he was going home, Mom launched into a confused discussion about where he was going and why was he leaving her there - she wanted to go home too! This went on for a bit as both Morris and Maggie tried to explain to Mom that she was already home and that Morris was just going to his apartment. Mom wasn't accepting any of that and continued on.
Morris left and then Maggie called me because Mom was still carrying on and she didn't know what to do for her. I got on the phone with Mom and tried to explain that she was already home, which she didn't want to hear from me either. I then tried to get her to describe her "home" to me so that I might be able to tell if she was talking about Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, etc. She was angry, didn't want to talk about it, handed the phone back to Maggie, and continued to call out.
I then suggested to Maggie that she get Mom into her wheelchair and take her to other parts of the house so that she might get her bearings and realize where she was. Believe it or not, it worked. Maggie took her back to her bedroom, combed her hair (which helps calm her down at times) and asked her if she remembered this was her bedroom. "Of course, I do" and then all was well and calm. Maggie then took her back to the kitchen.
Maggie told me that Pam had told her a similar thing had happened last week - Mom not realizing she was home, thinking someone had left her somewhere. Trying to reason with Mom doesn't seem to work; playing along and saying, "OK, let's take you home" and then taking her around the house, etc. seems to work. I mentioned to Maggie she might want to let everyone know that when the time comes to leave, just leave with as little fanfare as possible - not making it a big farewell telling her you're going home.
So two times now within a week - could be a new phase of her dementia. Thought you should all know and not be surprised if it happens to you.
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2 comments:
I think it's been more than 2 times. I'm not sure what you are counting as the second time, but I know that Dan had at least one (if not more than one) other experience with this "home" confusion just last week as well when he was there visiting and/or dealing with the furnace problem.
I didn't see this confusion at all on my weekend.
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