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6:31 a.m. - 2006-03-27 Casino BoundYesterday was the first time I have seen Mom since we took her to the hospital after the stroke. My hour long commute and working hours prohibits weekday visits. Yesterday she was lucid...not paranoid...loved all the nursing staff and the care she was receiving. There was no talk about "THEM". However, her short term memory is completely shot and although she knows who we are, who she is and where she is, she is almost childlike. One thing that did bother me though was when the nurse on duty came in her room to introduce herself, she talked about my Mother in Law and her progress as if my Mother in law was not in the room or not coherant. It was like a kindergarten teacher talking to a parent while the 5 year old looked on. The difference is that my Mother in law, at least in the state of mind she was in yesterday, was completely capable of being a part of this conversation. Instead of looking at the nurse, I looked at my MIL and talked directly to her, asking her to answer the nurses questions and only stepping in to help when she could not remember the answer. I know these people are childlike and with diminished mental capacity but they are still adults, know they are adults and it is demeaning to talk about them like they are not in the room. I'm sure the nurse didn't mean anything by it. This is the Alzheimers unit and my MIL is the most lucid person on the ward. These people are cute though. Some of them have the biggest smiles beaming when you smile at them. It is almost as if smiling at them is an exciting part of their day. One old lady came up to me and said with great hope and pleading eyes, "I'm trying to go home but before I can go home, I need to find someone with a car. Do you have a car?" "No, I don't, I'm sorry" I said sympathetically. The day before my MIL had the stroke, I told her that the next weekend we would go to the Casino boat, something she has wanted to do since arriving in Elgin. She can see a piece of the Casino sign from her room windo which looks out onto the Fox river. "Oh, at least I can look out and know where that casino is" she said. I can picture her, at a less lucid time attempting an escape and making her way across busy Rt. 31 and down to the bridge, so I said "After you have had more physical therapy and you are stronger, we will take you across the river for dinner and go into the casino for a while. Her eyes brightened. "Two weeks" she said. "In two weeks, I'll be strong enough to go to the casino." When we left. She reminded us to look for her good sneakers because she will need them in two weeks when we go to the casino. Seems the short term memory sticks for something she really really wants. I guess with that, we are casino bound in two weeks. Hope it goes well. P. I. Yarnsmith
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