Louisa

Some time back, I wrote a piece about a lady who has stealing sweeteners, napkins, etc., from the dining room; newspapers from the library and halls. She continues to this day even though they solved the library problem by subscribing to two dailies. And she is a sweet little old man-crazy lady with more money than I would know what to do with.

Several professional friends told me that they had seen the same hoarding go on in their families. It seems to be a symptom of dementia.

The latest rumor is that she is disposing of the evidence by throwing it off her 10th floor balcony.

They just cannot catch the culprit, whoever it may be.

AsA

-----Original Comment-----

How is it that persons who have signs of dementia are still able to some how fool others to keep their identities a secret. Does that say something about them or us? I wonder about the concept of dementia in her. Maybe she secretly is sane and likes throwing us off. I may want to be that way. She's also been married several times, so maybe her lust for chasing the men has always been around, just fewer takers now.

-----Response to Comment-----

Well, you sent me on a search to refresh my memory. Learned a new term: Pseudo-dementia. You may be right and she is faking for the attention it gives. Anywho, here is an article I found about the true symptoms.

Caregiver Factors Linked to Patient's Dementia Symptoms
FRIDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- Caregiver factors may influence the frequency of behavioral problems, such as wandering, hallucinations and restlessness, in patients with dementia, a new report finds.

Researchers found a rise in these symptoms in patients whose caregivers were young, less educated, overburdened or depressed, according to a U.S. study in the May issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study included nearly 6,000 dementia patients living in the community and their caregivers. Nearly half the caregivers were the patients' spouses, and 31 percent were daughters or daughters-in-law. Constant restlessness, constant talkativeness, hallucinations, paranoia, episodes of unreasonable anger, combativeness, danger to self, danger to others, destruction of property, repetitive questions, wandering, and waking the caregiver were the behavioral symptoms assessed in the study.

Caregivers, who were younger, less educated, more depressed, more burdened, or who spent more hours per week giving care reported more behavioral symptoms in patients. The youngest caregivers reported 50 percent more of these behaviors than the oldest caregivers.

"These symptoms are part of the disease, and the caregivers aren't causing them, but certain styles of care giving may bring them out. Our study identified characteristics of caregivers that are linked to these difficult behaviors," study author Dr. Kaycee Sink, an assistant professor of gerontology at Wake Forest University of School of Medicine, in Winston-Salem, N.C., said in a prepared statement.

A better understanding of the association between caregiver characteristics and dementia patient behaviors could lead to more effective treatment.

"These results are consistent with the idea that caregiver characteristics, including their emotional state, could contribute to neuropsychiatric (behavioral) symptoms in dementia patients. For example, it is possible that caregivers who are burdened may be irritable and demonstrate less patience, which could provoke the symptoms," Sink said.

Behavioral symptoms are the leading reason why families place dementia patients in nursing homes. The symptoms make it too difficult to care for the patient at home.

"We're not trying to blame the caregivers but to better understand the complex puzzle," Sink said. "If we focus only on the patient, we're not going to solve the problem. We need to develop better, non-drug treatments to handle these behaviors, and more tailored caregiver education may be one answer."

-- Robert Preidt


AsA
http://LifeInGeezerville.blogspot.com

[American Voices] E Coli At Taco Bell: "This will make me think twice about eating at the most disgusting fast-food chain in America."

Crazy People

"Three-fourths of the people here suffer from dementia", diagnoses the four-hundred pound nurse who has to hold a built-in counter and the table in order to pull up and stand to walk with her walker back to the elevator. Not acknowledging a possible death wish, she gorges daily on sweets and starches. Still, she has a sweet side. She has been ordering Christmas gifts for staff members and her family.

A friend in California, the land of fruits and nuts, said I live with a bunch of crazy people. I disagree. It is like living in Slapout, AL (pop. 150) where everyone knows everyone and knows their quirks. I can even sit on my back porch and watch people steal from the salvage store drop-off box across the street. We know:

a.. Who never has a kind word to say about anyone not at her table. I sometimes wonder what happened to cause her milk of human kindness to curdle.
b.. Who wears white jeans every day.
c.. Who breaks, re-breaks, and re-breaks the sheet rock wall getting up from the table but it is not her fault.
d.. Who patiently puts a bib on his wife for every meal.
e.. Who has a bicycle horn on his walker so he can beep for more coffee.
f.. Who ran all of her children off.
g.. Who is a non-stop busybody nosing in everyone's business.
h.. Who continuously keeps residents upset by playing the game "Uproar".
i.. Who steals a quart of milk from the dining room every day.
j.. Who hit on another woman less than a week after his wife was placed in a nursing home.
k.. Who tells 1940s jokes over and over.
l.. Who holds hands while walking anywhere in the building.
m.. Who has been married for 66 years and he never flushes the commode out of spite for her.
n.. Who gets on a single thought at every meal and repeats it over and over.
o.. Who wants to be a Church of Christ preacher.
p.. Who gripes about the food at every meal and then calls her sons to bring her something to eat.
q.. Who is suicidally depressed because her daughter is in a nursing home.
r.. Who refuses to take her medications which drives her school counselor daughter up a wall.
s.. Who wears the same clothes every day.
t.. Who can't remember when to come down for meals but remembers every night she has a date to go dancing.
u.. Who thinks that escaping from her Alzheimer's caretakers is a fun game.
v.. Who is a ticket-taker at all the Vanderbilt games.
w.. Who is an alcoholic. (Most are not).
x.. Who steals apples from the fruit basket so she can fry apples in her kitchen.
y.. Which staff members care deeply about the residents and which care less.
z.. Who drinks a beer six-pack every day.

But as I sip my hot tea and look around the dining room, most of the folks are pretty nice and quiet. Guess the percentage of mental illness is about the same as among the staff at the two Mental Health Centers where I worked. I, of course, am teetotally sane.

AsA

Thanks to the latest AMA height/weight chart, I am now 6'6" tall.

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I've always been on record as saying I don't think kids should be getting condiments in schools. We should be teaching abstinence instead.

Doozie

Easily distrac, I can still see from my ninth floor windows, the flashing lights of fire trucks at a strip center fire. The four-lane highway is closed for the time being.

Perhaps she will burn in the fires of Hell. I hope not, but Doozie is convinced she will. I do not know whether she actually lived the bad life that she claims. I do not know if she is going to Hell.
She lives on the floor that give some service to residents-in-need. And she keeps trying to escape. She wants to roll her wheelchair out into the middle of the four-lane highway in front of an oncoming car. Thus, she requires supervision 24 hours a day.

She’s got to go to an assisted living facility for full supervision. She may eventually go to Hell, but not from here.

AsA

Heaven is a blue state.