What is it about the brain. The brain is a very complex organ. So much of the workings of the brain are still being unraveled by scientists. It is understood that brain function reaches its peak around the time people are in their twenties. Then the brain goes into a slow decline. It depends on how much one exercises their brain. Research has shown that learning new tasks and complex reasoning is like a workout for the muscles to keep them toned.
Being associated with someone that has dementia I am at awe on how the brain can act in these type of individuals. You can be talking to the person and they know who you are and how you are related to them and then in the blink of an eye the reasoning is gone. The next moment they look at you as someone from another planet, not knowing who you are and not even knowing where they live. They remember things in distant past but not what happened last week. You can't call an electrician to rewire the thing as all the wiring is rotten. It is as you might say "Mind Boggling".
Working as a pharmacist in a retail setting I have noticed more and more of the elderly (seniors) having problems with memory. Most of the individuals are women. I was just talking to one female how to take her medication from the instructions the doctor had prescribed. I had to go over the instructions three times and the person was still having problems comprehending. She admitted that she has trouble remembering things. I then asked if she lived alone, which she did. I then asked if she had family members close by but both her children lived at least fifteen hundred miles away. She became teary eyed and had to walk away for a moment. I told her if she continued to have problems understanding the instructions to come by or call us back for assistance. Of course she probably did not remember that discussion.
The sad part of this experience is this very nice lady will eventually have to relocate to live with one of her children or be placed in an assisted living or nursing home facility. The hardest part is getting the individuals to understand that it will be a good thing for them to experience. But again it takes them out of their comfort zone, and they don't like being out of that zone.
Your momma was always one of my favorite aunts when I was a kid. We loved coming to your house and running around on the farm. Of course, we LOVED eating her wonderful food as she was an awesome cook. It is sad, sad, sad to see such a vibrant lady taken over by dementia, just like my mom was. I feel your pain because I have walked that road and it is full of pebbles that just seem to get bigger as you go along. Glad I found your blog and thanks for clicking on mine, too!
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