A stage 7 surprise/shock

abc123

Background info~ my parents live out of state, mom has Alz. She is stage 7 according to hospice. Dad is 85 and fulltime caregiver. My sister, her husband and I went for Thanksgiving week.

We all hoped that mom would be able to join us at the table. I picked out a soft, comfortable outfit. Kind of like a sweat suit, Elastic waste pants with a loose fitting pullover top. She cooperated with me for cleaning and grooming but when it came to dressing she was totally lost. She could not understand what I was trying to do to her. She became confused and upset. Her night gown is changed at least twice daily without any major problems so I thought it wouldn't be a problem to dress her in this outfit. I was wrong. She was mad and wanted nothing to do with it. I laid the clothes on the foot of the bed. I didn't want to cause her to have a fit, so we all decided we would eat Thanksgiving dinner without her and leave her peacefully in her bed. I was in and out of her room the entire time we were preparing the meal and setting the table. She was safe and seemed to be dozing on and off during this time. The four of us sat down to eat and dad said the blessing. We were enjoying the meal, talking about holidays past, laughing. It was nice. About halfway through the meal I got up and went to check on mom. She was sitting up in bed and had one leg in the pants. I almost fell on the floor from shock because she no longer sits up on her own. I asked her if she wanted me to help her. She did not answer me, she just laid back down and sort of zoned out. She was very quite the rest of the day. Has anyone else experienced their LO who is bed bound do something like this? In the past three months she has gotten out of bed twice and walked into the living room by herself, without the walker or wheelchair. Just got up and walked. I don't know what to think. 

Quilting brings calm

Sounds like her muscle memory is working when she’s on auto pilot.  Kind of like when you drive to work and were thinking of something else?  Her body knows the motions, her brain just usually can’t tell her to perform them. The danger lies in a miscommunication partway through.  Falling while doing the autopilot walking for example. 

I’m glad you got to see your mom.  Did you get anywhere in convincing your dad to move closer to you. 

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