Originally Posted by BETTY62
She also has developed some very odds habbits. She no longer wants to go outside of the house even to sit on the pourch and get sunshine and fresh air.
I have never been around someone with this illness. I do not know what to expect. I live in a small town about 1 hour from the city. Although help is available there, it is not easy to go into the city because Mom gets so upset if I am out of pocket. What I need to know is: Is her behavior normal for someone with dementia/alheimer's.
I also feel bad because I see her life passing by and I do not know what I can do to improve it's quality. Is there anything and do you think she knows life is passing her by?
Thank you guys for listening. I feel better already after having expressed by feeling to someone who is not directly involved in this situation.
Betty
I'm a CNA, so I'm by no means a medical expert. But in my experience, the normal thing with any kind of dementia (Alzheimer's is one kind of dementia.) is that there's no normal. That's the nature of this ugly beast. I will echo what someone else wrote that they kind of go into their own world, and it's up to us to enter their world, instead of vice versa. This can be very frustrating, and it requires LOTS of patience.
As to if your mom knows what's happening. Based on my experience, it seems that some people know "something's wrong." That's when they get agitated and start looking through papers, pacing from room to room, etc... trying to figure things out. They often will wander from their home looking for a bus to get to their childhood home or place of work. That can be very dangerous. But I've known other people who were fairly demented who I can say were perfectly happy and content in the present moment because they did not realize anything was wrong.
My heart goes out to you, Betty, and anyone else facing this difficulty.