There's no place like home...

Within the world of someone with dementia, they always want to go home. For most and my mother, they are home, but telling them that, most will not agree. Now I am learning for them, it may not mean a physical home. If you ask them where's home, often times they can't tell you.

For the past 2 weeks, every night I hear "I want to go home". I am suppose to redirect her with something like, "well, we will stay here tonight" and " lets see what happens tomorrow". For her, it doesn't work and depending on how tired her mind is, she would have a mental breakdown.  Trust me, it is not for the weak. I learned for my sanity, is to just go into another room and 90% of the time, it doesn't  work.

But now we're into our 3rd week and I believe the higher dose of medication is kicking in. The days are filled with a lot less sundowning affect, but one thing has changed, instead of her saying, "I want to go home", she is asking "are you taking me home". Am I happy? Somewhat, but there are still other behaviors still present and I know that it will always be, just don't know how intense and how long it will last. When I say "last", I mean in hours!

Now I know when she says "home", she is talking about a physical place. I believe it is my house, because she ask is she is staying here at my house.  My prayer now is that she goes to bed at a decent hour every night!!

This is truly a one day at a time life...

Out of sight, out of mind...

With Dementia, the short term memory is almost non-existent. Growing up, I would hear the phrase out of sight, out of mind and today I witness it. My sister called my mother from California and it had been a long time since they talked. At first mother didn't know who it was, even though she saw her name on the caller ID and I told her who was calling, but it just didn't register at the time. But when it did kick in, mother talked to her as if she was someone in their late teens or early twenties.

My sister just rolled with it, but it scared me, for I knew something was going to happen later, and it did.  Her mind crashed and she was back in Ohio, told me I was her sister, and started packing clothes once again. (Yeah, forgot to write about that nighmare!)

You have no clue how much I hate this disease and what it does to our love ones. I am not one to use the word "hate", but now I do and with great passion, for it is robbing me of my love, my friend, my mother. I hate that it causes her to not see me as her daughter 75% of the time!!

I need help, but until I can get it, I decided to join a support group on social media for caregivers and have learned how much I'm not alone in this journey.  One major thing I learned,  my mother says often, "I want to go home", and how they have handle those moments. Yes, it happen tonight, but a little different, for she wants to leave in the morning.  Hopefully this night sleep with cancel that thought.

I suppose, they are feeling that they are being missed, when though I am here living with mom, but in her mind, I don't know what year she is living in, in those moments.

Give me strength...