go figure!

Deanna_M

My mother is in the advanced stages of Alz. Yesterday I brought her an unwrapped chocolate kiss (yum!) and a children's book for us to look at together.

She could not pop the chocolate into her mouth, even with my prompting. She just held it and was very confused about it. Yet, she knew how to hold the book right side up and turn the pages appropriately. Go figure!

If this all wasn't so very sad, the scientist in me would find this all so interesting. Why is it that people can retain some motor memory (like turning the pages of a book) yet cannot recall the simple steps to eat something with their fingers?! Eating is key for survival, so it seems like the act of putting food into one's mouth would be retained far longer than something non-essential. So strange!

There is no real question in my post. Rather I just wanted to share something puzzling that I have been thinking a lot about. I am sure others have seen similarly puzzling and equally sad things like this.

GothicGremlin

Hi Deanna - when I can detach myself from all of the sadness, I wonder about the same things.  There are many things that she's still quite capable of doing, but she has no sense of where she is in space.  She can't orient herself to sit down in a regular sized chair, or sit down on the bed without help. We've been sitting in chairs since - forever.  Maybe it's the type of dementia each of them has and it affects different people's brains in different ways, depending on where the damage is?  I don't really know.

MN Chickadee

I hear you. My mother is having a hard time feeding herself, she has mostly forgotten that a cup is for drinking and that she needs to bring the food to her mouth. But she not only will hold the book correctly and turn the pages, but will also hold it up and slowly move it around for her stuffed animals to see the pictures. She was an elementary school teacher so I guess that is still in there. Why on earth that would remain over feeding yourself is beyond me.

sandwichone123

My spouse and I went to an Asian restaurant a few days ago. I got him a fork and me chopsticks. He grabbed one chopstick and couldn't figure it out. I got another set and showed him but it didn't make any sense. However, when the food came, he picked up the chopsticks and ate without any trouble at all. Puzzling.

Deanna_M

MN Chickadee wrote:

I hear you. My mother is having a hard time feeding herself, she has mostly forgotten that a cup is for drinking and that she needs to bring the food to her mouth. But she not only will hold the book correctly and turn the pages, but will also hold it up and slowly move it around for her stuffed animals to see the pictures. She was an elementary school teacher so I guess that is still in there. Why on earth that would remain over feeding yourself is beyond me.

My mom was an elementary school teacher, too. She rarely makes sense any more when she talks, but a lot of her "word salad" has something to do with children. That part of her life was so important to her.

mommyandme (m&m)

I am right there with you, every day.  This is all so puzzling…and weird…

Just now she was trying to blot up her apple slices with her egg salad sandwich.