I will write more later about the parade of caregivers in and out of our house but today I have one burning question... How can they be so confused by day and dream with the lucidity of a 15 year old??? (15 year olds do know everything you know?!?)
Here is why I ask the above question.
My mother can hold a whole conversation in her sleep. She can yell at my father, get dinner on the table and pack up to "go home" with no thought about how to do any of those things.
On two occasions lately, she has had the most vivid dreams about everyday things. Once she was letting my father know that he could not write that check because there was no money in the account to cover it.
On the other occasion she had was on her feet (BiPAP on mind you) packing her (imaginary) suitcase and saying "well we have had a nice time but we better be getting home". I am assuming that we were going home from my grandparents. When I turned on the light, she was quite suprised that she was at home. It actually took a few minutes to convince her that she didn't need to go home because she was already home and she needed to crawl back into her bed.
On another occasion she was in the hallway, cooking dinner for the family. I woke her that time and she was so hungry (at 3 am) that she wouldn't go back to sleep until I got her some cheese and crackers.
It is a little like getting to play house every night in the middle of the night. However, as I think about these indcidents, I realize that they are all things that would have happened in our lives when I was younger. She was very rational about what she was dreaming. How can it be that once awake from that dreamstate she is once again as confused as when she went to sleep?
Dementia, you are certainly a strange one!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment