Coronavirus
Shelter-in-place
with everyone else in the world.
But then there's the Mom with Alzheimer's component. It's pushed her over the edge.
She's so unhappy. Calling us multiple times every day to beg us to get her out of her community, which is sheltering. She doesn't understand why shelter in place is happening. She's paranoid. She can't retain the information about the virus.
We asked her doctor for an anti-anxiety medication. It or the continued shelter-in-place and foxnews has resulted in delusions and more paranoia. My siblings argue about whether she has Alzheimers. We argue about whether memory care is necessary. I think it is, but nobody expected that by the time she needed it she would still be together enough to tell us how she feels about it.
Monday she made a run for the border -- snuck out into the hallway, trying to break free. I went to see her later that morning and she pulled many things out of her pockets:
Two lipsticks
Two different kinds of candy
Random jewelry
Three emery boards
A note to the residents from the management saying, among other things, that it's great that you are remembering to wear masks. Please also remember to wear clothes.
In the waistband of her pants she had a card (Mother's Day, perhaps?) that in all likelihood concealed her checkbook.
She wants to live in a little house near my brother. She doesn't understand that she has not lived alone for five years and can't do things that she used to do without assistance. At some point she also said she was sorry she lived by me and that she wouldn't need to live close to me and that she and I aren't that close, anyway. Ouch, but whatever.
I spent much of the day on the phone with her or my siblings.
Tuesday, she called around to us all day. Get me out of here!!
Wednesday she called and said she's being held against her will (Tuesday there was a claim of crimes against nature). Why won't I take her out of there? Terrible things are happening and I will be very sorry when I learn that she was right. She made quite a performance for the resident services guy, who arrived during one of her major meltdowns. She told him that he was a liar, and she didn't know about Covid and that his rules about sheltering were made up. Meanwhile at my house -- I packed a bag and put it by the door.
Today's Thursday. She called in the morning and wanted to be freed from her incarceration. I heard from others that she was threatening to kill herself. Half of my siblings agreed that intervention was necessary. I asked the front desk to call 911. Then I got in the car.
Since then I have had meetings with Resident Services, Wellness, and city police officers who evaluated her mental state (not suicidal).
In the meantime my brother, who has two different cancers and a very large lung tumor is the source of her fixation. I wish that nobody had told my mom the truth, that he has a new tumor, but nobody listens when my eldest sister and I tell them that even though you have promised to always tell your mom with Alzheimer's the truth, it's a completely selfish act to do so.
God's a problem. Peoples' relationship with God is a problem in this family.
Yesterday the doctor prescribed what we thought was going to be Haldol. After the police left today I was able to pick up the prescription at the pharmacy. It was not Haldol. I showed the label to my siblings in a photo. Texts about the inappropriateness of this drug for Alz patients started raining down upon me. Texts about how this drug should start working in one to two weeks started raining down upon me. We need relief for her urgently and her doctor is concerned about prescribing medication that might make her drowsy.
DROWSY??? Make her drowsy, please!! She has 24/7 caregiving. It's ok!
All morning I stayed put, parked in front of her residence, so that the people in charge who work there could find me and so that I could help them. Wellness and I consulted, and I shared my concern that drug #1 that will take effect next week and isn't otherwise appropriate for people with cognitive impairment. They got in touch with the mama's primary care doctor.
He doesn't know that she has had a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's for four years. Why? Because his health system isn't connected to the system of Mom's specialists, like the neurologist who diagnosed her. Also because we purposefully didn't tell her doctor because we did not want her community to find out from him, and kick her out.
We are all now paying the price.
At some point this morning I took a giant header while talking to the nurse and moving from the street to the sidewalk and avoiding elderly people so that we could be socially distant. I did not break anything, including my phone. I did scream, roll over, and tell my eldest sister, who I was also talking to on the phone, that I was ok, had fallen but was ok and would call back.
At some other point I went to a grocery store because I was supposed to shop for the mama on my way to see her today, only I called 911 on her instead. So I still had that task. I bought her bacon, and I also bought myself bacon, and tomorrow morning I am going to eat a fucking Jenga of bacon, Lord willing.
I brought groceries to the mama, then drove 20 minutes back to my home because I had to use the bathroom, and came back two hours later to pick up a prescription for narcotics, which had to be driven from the doctor's office, across the town mama lives in, to the pharmacy. It was my second trip there today and they were so kind. Filled that prescription in 15 minutes. Drove it back over to the mama's place. Drove home.
We had beer delivered to our house and mrguy and I looked deep into each other's eyes.
Cheers, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!
It has been a day.
I did not break.
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