Better again

We've had some difficult days. First Mother went on a "walkabout". At 1 AM one morning the staff at the Care Center discovered she was missing. Mother cannot remember why or how she went outside in the middle of the night. She remembers trying to get back in and not being able to. She was frightened and didn't know whether to hide in darkness or stay in lighted areas as she walked around, cold, legs hurting. They found her a block away, heading towards a busy street. I shiver to think what could have happened if she had gone out in the middle of the night while still at home. We won't have known she was gone till morning.

Last week Mother broke out in hives. She was miserable. We wondered if perhaps she was reacting to the detergents they used at the Care Center, so we took all her clothes home and rewashed them. The hives continued to spread, beyond where her clothing touched her body. We finally realized the hives had started after a couple of days of a new medication to help with anxiety, we had that stopped and it has cleared up.

There was also a problem with her medication which has to be administered at very specific times. We met with the administration and they responded immediately, moving Mother to a wing where she is receiving more attention. She was separated from her roommate Julia for a couple of days. Mother was too sick to notice, but Julia cried.

They are now together again and we can tell Mother is herself again by the funny happenings. When I got there yesterday afternoon she was trying to figure out how to hide behind the dividing curtain, I thought out of modesty because she was just wearing a night gown and Julia's son was visiting. Nope, that wasn't it, she didn't want Julia to see her and come to her side to talk! I got her some fresh cold water so Julia asked her son to get her some also. He left and Julia peeked around the curtain to talk to me. When I turned back to Mother her face was distorted, eyes big, something in her cheek that she seemed to be having trouble swallowing. I was concerned because the Parkinsons can make it hard to swallow if she hasn't had her medication. I asked what was in her mouth, she won't respond, then she was back to normal. At this point I was very concerned, trying to figure out what had been wrong. She told me that if her face is normal, Julia talks to her but if her face is distorted she leaves her alone! Nina had further funny experiences I hope she'll post.