Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Alzheimer's Yakker


"More there" is a good thing, and Joanne knows how to get it.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Earlier today, we published an article from Karen Brenner, This Alzheimer’s Whisperer. A wonderful, feel good, article for sure.

Joanne and Dotty
This brings us to the Alzheimer's Yakker. A person who somehow can just yak away with a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Yak, to talk persistently, to chat.

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Well this Alzheimer's Yakker is none other than my sister Joanne.

Joanne came to visit us last week. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was 20 years ago.

And there they were, Joanne and Dotty out in the kitchen yakking away. Yaking, Yaking, Yaking. Of course we had the occasional, Where's Bobby, or, Bobby where are you?

With Alzheimer's patients you might be out of sight, but you are rarely out of mind.

I listen in and Joanne and Dotty are yaking away about just about everything under the sun. They talk about the little boy (Ryan, Dotty's great grandson), and the little girl (Kaitlin, Dotty's great granddaughter). Joanne is the grandmother in this story.

They look at pictures and just yak away. Joanne tells Dotty what is going on with the "kids" and they just yak away.

Sometimes it gets interesting. Like when Dotty asks Joanne if she can get the Volkswagen started. Volkswagen? You mean the car that was last seen in 1982? Where did that come from. Dotty never asked me about the VW.

Of course, when Joanne wants something Dotty volunteers to jump in the car and go get it. Just like in the old days. Dotty proceeds to tell us she can drive and goes to the store all the time. Joanne and I look at each other and laugh. Dotty doesn't seem to mind at all.

If you get in the right mind set, Dotty is very entertaining.

Here is the best part. Joanne just sits there and yaks with Dotty. Just like in the old days. She doesn't get bent out of shape when Dotty begins to tell a tall tale that has nothing to do with current day reality. They just yak away about the topic.

Joanne is well past the point where Dotty's tall tales bend her out of shape, or make her feel sad and disconcerted. They once did.

I think they continue to fascinate Joanne though.

Dotty doesn't tell me the same kinds of tall tales she tells Joanne or other people. Something triggers off stuff like the VW.

I ask Dotty questions all the time about the past. She can't answer any of them, or most of them. But the information about the VW is still in there. She even knew the color, yellow. These new VWs really fascinate Dotty. She really wants one. She wants one so she can drive herself to work when she gets her new job next week.

Back to Joanne.

I think Joanne should hang out a shingle. She should hire out her talent and talk to Alzheimer's patients. I can tell you, Dotty really looks calm, cool, and collected when she talks to Joanne. She looks a lot like the 75 year old Dotty (Dotty is 95 years old).

Dotty looks happy.

Dotty looks "more there".

"More there" is a good thing, and Joanne knows how to get it.



The Coasters - Yakety Yak, 1958




More Insight and Advice for Caregivers


Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 2,800 articles with more than 602,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.


Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
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