Maybe Dotty will win again. If she does I'll say -- Chicken Wings......By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Those of you that are following along know that Dotty is in the moderate to severe stage of Alzheimer's disease. She was officially diagnosed with dementia more than five years.
Its not unusual for Dotty to say, I'm hungry, I'm starving within ten to fifteen minutes of eating. It is not unusual for Dotty to ask right around 3:30 in the afternoon, did we eat today?
When I say yes we ate, she sometimes asks what did we eat? When I tell her she usually gets this bewildered look on her face. Like she can't believe it.
Sometimes she challenges me and says she didn't eat. Not anything. She honestly believes she has not had a thing to eat all day.
Many of you know the drill. Dotty really doesn't remember much of anything.
Sometimes we spend two or three hours in an outdoor restaurant. When we drive back by the restaurant on the way home Dotty will say, wow, look at that place we should go there some time.
I asked Dotty right after her 4 hour birthday party last year how she liked the birthday cake. She answered, what birthday cake?
I am use to this by now. In fact this is what I expect.
Tonight is bingo night. So I ask Dotty, how did you do last week?
She looks me right in the eye and says, I won fifty dollars. My eyes pop wide open. Dotty did win 50 bucks a week ago.
I then ask her how did you win. She tells me, they gave her the money. I say didn't you get bingo? She tells me No. I then ask, why did they give you 50 dollars? She says, I don't know they just gave it to me.
Dotty won at Bingo several times in the past years. She did not remember winning the next morning. Not once.
This is one thing that is fascinating about dementia. You get the occasional lucid moment. In this case really a half lucid moment.
This also reminded me of the when my father was dying from cancer. He would have an occasional great day. Those great days some how fill you with a false sense of hope. You try not to think it but you can't help it -- miracle about to happen?
What I can say is, Dotty telling me she won 50 dollars last week made me feel really happy. In the moment, it was like the good old days. It reminded me how much fun Dotty was/could be. We were actually having a conversation about something that happened in the not too distant past.
You might think I am sad. I'm not. I'm mystified.
On a separate note. Tonight is the last night of bingo for this Florida season. This means no more three hour vacations for me, and no more bingo for Dotty.
Last year Dotty said every week that she didn't want to go to bingo. This year she said every week she did want to go. Interesting for sure.
I guess you could say Dotty and I have come a long way together.
In an hour and a half, I'll go pick up Dotty and her friends. Maybe Dotty will win again. If she does I'll say -- Chicken Wings.
I'll update this story one way or the other late tonight if you want to check back in.
Why did Dotty remember the 50 Bucks?
Max?
Late Note: Dotty didn't win at bingo. Her friend Josie told me she didn't have much to say this week. Mom did seem a little bit out of it when I went in to pick her up from bingo. Not bad.
No doubt bingo is one of the ways to go with someone suffering from Alzheimer's dementia. At bingo you get three good things in my opinion: use of the brain as an exercise, bright light, and a good amount of socialization. Being in a large room with lots of people is also a positive.
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Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,200 articles with more than 9,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
