Deflection

It has been around zero degrees for the last few days, but to warm up into the forties by the end of the week: MUD. As for me, I have been hiking everyday at about 2.33 miles per day. On Friday, it was really a cold hike with the temperature four degrees below zero.

Last night, we had Christmas ever with my sister, and her family, and my youngest brother, with his two daughters, since his wife was hat home with a sore back.

My dad went to the hospital in Madison last night and he call this evening stating that he has a blood infection. Without a much staff in the hospital today, he did not find out much about his condition.

Since this is Christmas, I thought that I would give a little update on my mom’s condition with dementia. From an overall stand point, I feel that she is not living with the fear that she was in July. Without the fear, she is easier to be around. But, with the given strength of a person with dementia, it can be challenging, especially since you cannot reason with them. What they want, you usually have to give in on, like the time to prepare a meal. And, once they focus on something, like water on the counter top, it is best to wipe it up and not later, even if you have met one of their primary needs, like getting them a cane for them to walk to the bathroom.

But, from the stand point of the progress of the dementia, this is hard to determine if there is any more deterioration. By removing the fear situation out of the life, they are much calmer and that makes it hard to determine mental deterioration. Below is an essay on fear that does reflect what we are living through.

I did not make it to Church this Sunday, but I was close to making it on time. By the time that my mom ate breakfast, it was just past the time to leave for Church. From now on, I am hoping that my nephew’s will come over on Sundays to give me a chance to go to Church. But, I hope that this Journal Entry finds you in good health, since it is the time of the year to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.

Roger

Dementia Fear

As for a person suffering from dementia, they fear everything, especially losing their independence. As for the caregivers, a dementia person filled with fear can practically paralyze the good intensions of a caregiver. It is only with resilience that the caregiver will be able to maintain a caring environment.

It is like the fight, flee, or freeze response that is built into all of us when danger is near. When a person is in a state of fear, it can control a person mental and physical health. If a person with dementia does not feel secure, the will fight until the caregiver gives in to the fear, unless it a threat to their personal safety. But, if a person with dementia decides to flee from danger, they will move everything out of their way, without any regard to others, objects, and/or property, to get out of danger. In their current state of mental health, the freeze option does not exist.

The biggest item for a dementia person is losing their independence. If a person has lived in their own home and made all their own decisions for years, they will not let go of their destiny. When a caregivers comes into their house, the will fight them with every ounce of their strength maintain their independence, despite the fact that they need help with house hold choirs and their health issues.

Childhood fears become a reality. If a grade school classmate was abducted, it will be on the top of the dementia person’s mind, since they will require all the outside doors and the doors to their bedroom locked. Then they will come to the family member and state that you do not know what I go through with unlocked doors.

Fear of taking drugs becomes a reality, since they declare that they are poison. Then it becomes a test of crushing the drug and disguising them in food, so that they do not detect the drug. Ice cream can be used to disguise the drugs, since the frozen milk helps to num the tongue. Some time liquid drugs can be added fruit juice may works; but, if the liquid drug has a taste, the demential person may detect the drug in the juice and stop drinking the juice. So, it becomes a matter of trial and error to find the best way to disguise the drugs.

The fear factor becomes hard on the family. Although some of the items that they fear are straight forward, others take a hours observation to determine the fear. But, if the item that is feared is known, this is just half of the problem, since best way to calm a dementia person is to find ways to counter the item that they are fearing.

Fear is a powerful emotion. And, as for a dementia person, their measurement of fear maybe off of the scale, without any signs of relief. This makes life hard for everyone that is around the person. As for the family caregivers, they have to learn to cope with their love one’s items of fear and find ways to countermand their fears.