September 27, 2008

Speaking of taking it to the next level, (refer to previous post) Gordon has gone to new heights on the confusion scale. I feel really bad for him because, in his own mind, he is completely rational. As has been discussed previously, he has been having hard time keeping up with his email and doctor appointments. I introduced him to the 'medical calendar' Bette and I have put on the internet. This seems to have helped him know when he is going to the doctor. Now he is having a hard time keeping track of the days...for a very interesting reason.

He has a digital wrist watch that he has bragged about because it is updated by some nuclear clock and is amazingly accurate. The problem is that he thinks its a certain day of the week, but what he thinks is different than the day of the week according to his watch. For example he has been complaining for the past month or so that his weekly visit to get his kidney shot gets moved and then the van provided by Legacy doesn't take him there. He said last week on Friday he sat on the porch for 2 hours waiting for the van to take him to his appointment. His appointments are on Wednesdays. He thought it was Wednesday when it was actually Friday. Today I was there and he was ticked again because it was Wednesday and the van hadn't taken him to his appointment. I reassured him that today was Saturday and not Wednesday.

Here's the kicker. He told me that 'someone' in charge of the nuclear clock is purposely switching Wednesday and Saturday!! "Why would they do that!!" Deep sigh. Wow, it finally occurred to me why he's always thinking that he missed his kidney appointment. I sat down beside him and put my hand on his leg and, as gently and light-heartedly as I could, explained to him that he was very, very confused. I assured him that no one was purposely switching days on him. He disagreed. He still believed it was Wednesday. I got him to look me in the eyes and I told him again that his belief and reasoning was completely false. I told him that the trend of his confusion may even increase and that he is going to have to trust those that are caring for him. "That's what Vicki (the van driver) always says...Trust me, Gordon.", he said. I assured him that he could. We will see what the future holds for his reasoning. Keep him in your prayers.

On the other hand, mom doesn't cease to amaze me at how much she has changed since coming to Legacy! She now has a stereo, a small boombox, 2 tv's and a dvd player...and is requesting another dvd player! The challenge now is to keep her stocked with enough movies....and music. She is finally reaching outside of herself to external sources for entertainment/diversion. Don't get me wrong, she is still plagued by all the physical ailments of the recent years but she is less obsesive...no, she still obsesses but it is tempered somewhat by her renewed interest in cards, movies and such. However, the toilet and her diaper remain her most time consuming form of entertainment - which is very discouraging to her.