'Word Salad'

Good evening,

Returned from a week-long visit to my hometown. Went with my Mom to see my Dad (PWD) in the memory care unit 3 times while I was there. I was very happy to see he is doing better after having spent time in the hospital for medication management. He had been sleep deprived, depressed, anxious, agitated; then maybe over-medicated, over sleeping, and trouble walking. He was recently able to return to the nursing home, and I was able to get time off work to visit. He is able to walk again, which is a blessing.

My Mom had told me that she was seeing some progression of the disease: he now has to have fluids thickened to prevent aspiration, 'finger foods', and speech is what is called 'word salad'. He talks, but it doesn't make sense. She says he might know what he's trying to say, or might not know that what he is saying isn't making sense, but to respond to the situation and the feeling behind the exchange~which I tried to do.

Two interesting things happened, one on the second visit. We tried playing Rummy, a card game that our family has played for many many years. A few days before we had played and he was able to (mostly) play ~ by long established rule of play. That day however, my Mom and I don't know what game he was playing …Rummy, War, or Pitch!

The second interesting thing was on the third vist, the day before I left town. Before I had arrived in town, Mom had told him their daughter was coming for a visit. He asked, "We have a daughter?", "What is her name?" and "How old is she?" Well, on that visit we were looking at a nature magazine. He was having a good day, interested in looking at the magazine, reading some of the words. He was conversing, although, as mentioned, not coherently. While sitting together, looking at the magazine he said, "52". I looked at him and said, "Yes, I am going to be 52-years-old soon." ~which I am. I thought it neat that a piece of information 'came through', bubbled out or however you want to say it.

Continued, ongoing grieving for my father the way he once was, but thankful for happy moments.

Thank you for listening.