My next door neighbours, a couple in their early 70s have an awful situation developing.
She is displaying all the symptoms of dementia, in the last week has been wandering off, walked 3 miles to her old birth home where her brother lives a few days ago,
she is regularly wandering into our garden and on Sunday tried to follow me into the house.
So now I have to leave the back door locked where it would normally be open in fine weather.
If it wasnt for the CV lockdown this wouldnt bother me but she has no awareness of social distancing.
Her husband is distraught but of course we cannot help.
He phoned the Dr who said atm they cant have any testing done.
I advised him to get back to the Dr and explain how bad things are,
maybe mild sedative could be prescribed.
I think he might have underplayed the situation.
He said its been coming on for a year, with some confusion and forgetfullness.
We wonder if the current worrying situation has accelerated her condition. Very sad.
oh, what a sad tale
@PenguinMum
Rings so true as well.
i bet he's underplayed it, doesn't want to lose here, struggling to cope but knowing care homes /hospitals are not the safety net they should be right now, for various reasons.
i bet he is distraught either way with this...poor man.
the stress certainly rings true as well, though it might just be coincidental.
dad got Dx as trminal cancer around the time Mum was , looking back going downhill.
did just think it was the shock and not knowing how to deal with it,
but either way the progression from then on was unstoppable.
not sure it's a wise move on the sedative front.
though it could be just right for her, at this moment in time.
we had mum on
risperidone, i think.
known as a chemical cosh, so she was a zombie while taking it,
but the down side was if the dose wore off, early hours it did, until they got the dosage right.
she would wake after dad had looked after her all day and he was exhausted, around 2am and then create that she was trapped in , really quite angry, frightened and rather aggressive.
he was so exhausted he finally had a heartache over it, which was were it all became very untenable..
love for there to be a happy ending here,...
.
i would suggest that he INSISTS they check her for water infections.at first chance.
a well known cause of mental unrest, and if she already has some dementia issues it could well put her right over the top.
we had a spot or two of that , and mum went from a nightmare to a meek little lamb again.
worth suggesting to him for the docs, before more radical actions.
just might give them the window to get through this moment of lock down and allow a better
prognosis later on where we are in much calmer waters.
Hard for you too as a neighbour,
i get how we would normally do that.
but you are
NO use to anyone if your sick (or worse)
quite right to prioritise what you CAN do,
while staying safe.
undoubtedly, i know you can and will offer the best a good neighbour can and you are sure to be needed at some point.
so bear that in mind if you feel awkward or at risk of being rude.
if you aren't there later to help... they are both a lot worse off.
stay well
stay safe
think every neighbour should have a
@PenguinMum , near by.
xx
