Sundowner's

One of the curses of Alzheimer's is Sundowner's, the strange phenomenon that starts in the late afternoon and goes on for about 3 hours. There are many theories as to what causes it but I am going with the belief that it’s an accumulation of all of the sensory stimulation from the day which begins to overwhelm and cause stress. Joe, Salina and Grayson were here last night. I told Salina it is like the days of the colicky baby, because while they are outside by the pool, I am in the house comforting a very colicky Mom! ; ) Like clockwork she started at 3pm and at 602pm she is sitting next to me resting like a baby.

Mom is adjusting to her new place OKAY but I can tell she misses her old place, the faces and the routines. We get better as I figure out what works best, like today I changed it to where I change her before her nap instead of after. I am thinking this is working better because she really does not like when I change her and so she looks at me with daggers. I started thinking maybe she would enjoy her awake time with me more if she did not have to use part of the time to get "un-mad" at me. So if I change her before her nap then by the time she wakes up she has forgotten being mad at me and now I am just the hero coming to get her for meals! It is just the first day but I think it is helping.

Mom has it in her to be very Tilson stubborn and she will flat out ignore you at times if listening does not suit her. Until today I thought it was a legitimate part of the ALZ but not anymore. We were sitting at the table for lunch and she was being impossible to work with. I started getting tears in my eyes and I said Mom you are not very nice to me sometimes and I do not know why you do that to me. Her head popped up immediately and she looked at me with such compassion. Her mood got a lot better. As nice as this interchange was I am not sure I am thankful for it because all along I thought her crankiness at times was the "disease" but now I will have to wonder if she is really just cranky with me!

Louis is so wonderful with Mom, I could not be doing this without him. He is so patient with the process and me as I figure out what works and as I do so often he is the one picking up the pieces. I just love him!