Yet another lingering legacy from "The Great One"

[megadrainbamage]

No, I don't mean Jackie Gleason, nor do I understand what the hell was ever so great about him. He portrayed a loudmouthed, mean-spirited blue collar loser who dedicated all of his free time and energy to putting down his sitcom wife and belittling her every effort. Whoop de freaking do, can we get more of that? There just aren't enough role models

Comments

Oy, could Tam ever tell you horror stories on that

[justplaintam]

We've ended up with a few lean periods when I've taken on outside jobs helping out at nursing homes, so I've seen the full spectrum of alzheimer's. Not pretty, at all, especially in its late stages. And since there's never any predictability as far as how long to expect things to go on, incidentally, the late stages basically refers to basically anything beyond the point where it's recognizable enough to be diagnosed with an absolute certainty.

I've seen families make the trip to visit from out of state, even on a weekly basis, and it's extremely iffy as to whether the patient will recognize the visitors or not. One case in particular stands out in my mind, where the one son had power of attorney over the mother's health care even though she'd been living with the other son for about two years before she had to be placed in the nursing home. And the son who had power of attorney naturally wanted her to be close to him to facilitate any decision making, etc., on his part. So the other son, who lived out of state, would make the trip with his wife and kids every single week to visit her. And every single week, it would be a mystery as to whether or not she would recognize them, or how long it would take, or whether it might set her off and send her into either a panic or a blind rage. And to make matters worse, many times when she did recognize them, she gave them hell about placing her in the nursing home, which obviously meant that they didn't care how lonely and miserable she was, etc. And I'd be hard pressed to say which was more difficult --- caring for her, and watching the disease progress, or seeing the effects on the son and his family. And, of course, the bickering between the two sons and their families as far as what was the "right" or "best" course of treatment for their mother.

You folks definitely have my sympathies, especially your sister who is caring for her on a daily basis. And if RTF doesn't back off and let you do what you can to help, I have a good mind to educate you on how to use the natural power of attorney that automatically goes hand in hand with marriage to go about proving that he is no longer of sound mind or body, and I can give you a list of nursing homes in the area that have been cited for substandard care...

Just kidding, of course, but you've got to admit, that one would be justifiable. ;-P