Hi all! Its been a heck of a holiday so far and I have been pulled many directions these past couple of weeks. I haven’t written a personal post in a while and thought I would fill you in on my “MIA-ness”. About a year and a half ago April 2, 2010 to be exact, I got a distressing call with my Grandmother’s digits on my caller id with only a sound of her television on in the background and then dialing on the other end? Hmmm thats weird I thought? allow me to back track just a bit…. about 4 days before Grandma wanted to go get a present for my daughter’s birthday and decide to try the mall and pretty much wore herself out. Again let me back track a little more… My grandma is 92 at this time and yes thats right she drove her own car to the mall.
Ok back to April 2, 2010, Tianna’s birthday party and Grandma decided to stay home because she wasn’t feeling well ( again pretty much wore herself out trying to find a gift). After the first call, she called again and just dialed numbers, almost like she was siting on the phone. After the 3rd time of doing that, I finally asked her to dial twice if something is wrong and she did so I called the ambulance to hustle on over to her home because they could get there quicker then I could. I left my daughter’s party and drove to the house, on the way the ambulance had called and said they were taking her to the hospital because she is not breathing very well. I go into panic mode immediately and go straight to the hospital, where I met my parents there.
Turns out Grandma was actually trying to call but couldn’t say anything because she was having trouble breathing. Long story short, since that day Grandma has not been the same and it has been what seems like a very long road for her and us. She started loosing her memory and basically started loosing…. herself.
We had moved her into an Assisted living home where we thought she would be able to be looked after 24 7 and of course one that was close to our home. We get the call from them saying it is time for us to move her to a facility more equipped for memory loss and… Alzheimer’s Disease. yep that word, I never thought that her Dr. would actually diagnose her with having that only because she is one of the strongest women I know. My Grandma at 92 driving around, going shopping and meeting up for lunch with her friends. My Grandma planning dinners for her family and having us over for every holiday, her soft tickles on our ears and the tops of our heads when sitting next to us, her delightful joy and smile as she lights up any room.
These last few days have been yet another transition for her, confusing her even more then she already is, we have moved her into a Alzheimer and Memory Care Home near us where she will be from now on out and it has been a rather rough transition for all of us. It tears me up inside to see her confusion in her eyes and pulling my arm and asking me “Am I supposed to be doing something right now?”. There were a lot of tears today and a lot of worry in my mind but I know she is going to have the best care possible and she won’t be doing this alone because she has her family who love her dearly.
I can relate to this in some way: Romie’s 84yo mom has stroke-related dementia which affects her memory at times, too. There are days when we think she’s back to her normal self, but with dementia it’s really false hope because one never gets better. But, we pray and think otherwise. Blessings to you and your family.