My Mother in law is 93 with Dementia, living with us. Her son is an only child.
We are already her enemy from losing her car, now she is in another "Groundhog Day" episode about lost rings (cheap and definitely not worth it ) and we're the dirty rotten, lying thiefs. She has always looked for the negative in things her whole life and now it is super magnified.
Yesterday she refused to change subjects or be otherwise distracted. She was so mad her face was red all day long!!! We want to take her to buy replacements. But she wont have it. She wants those!! And besides, she says...that's not the point.... BTW...2 of them are non-existent. ..or maybe she had them before her son was born or something, at any rate we never saw them. I need to know if there is a better way of handling.
Her son, my husband is her only child. He hasnt been able to handle the craziness well, and he is ready to put her in the nursing home because he has too much other stress to deal with at the same time. Its affecting the whole family. I know this web sight said she would lose her reasoning ability. Im guessing that's what's happening. If we could just figure out how to handle it better..you all are my last hope.
Oh, Mimirow. I'm so sorry for the stress!
My best advice would be to approach things with humor as much as you can. Hard when someone is being accusatory, I know. But if she's not remembering from day to day that she's lost the same things over and over, then hopefully you can keep your own sense of humor and be able to say, "She's just confused" and be able to set it aside.
Not very helpful, huh?
Here's a few things I found here on the site:
How to Cope With the "Living Death" of Alzheimer's: Anticipatory Grief
10 Ways to Be a Healthier Alzheimer's Caregiver
Perhaps something in those will help, both her and you and your husband.
Please let us know how things are going!
Laura
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