I Love This Monday!

Usually folks love Friday but today I love Monday.  Today my mom goes back to our Naturopath Doctor for another Acupuncture treatment.  Acupuncture has helped her dementia and Parkinsons symptoms.  It has also given my mom her ability to communicate which makes Care Giving much easier.

My mom's had one Acupuncture treatment 10 days ago.  The first 3 - 4 days after the session she was able to focus on TV, she watched 2 movies back to back, laughing at all the appropriate places.  She was laughing at old re-run sitcoms.

The one improvement that I personally enjoyed the most was listening to my mom talk to me.  She found her words; she was communicating.  I was able to reason with my mom.  My mom, she was able to talk on the phone to her children.  She was beginning to learn how to use the TV remote control by herself.

Today is Monday.  Our doctor is back from vacation and my mom is seeing him today for another Acupuncture treatment.  Yay!

My mom's cognition waned slowly after the first Acupuncture treatment.  Yesterday was day 9 and she was back to her old crazy ways.  Talking to the air, having full conversations with no one that I could see.  She frowned all day.  She tried to talk to me throughout the day but none of her words were coming to her.

She hallucinated a lot.  Ceremonies galore in the back yard, ceremonies that she watched and wondered what was going on .  She asked me what was going on.  I couldn't tell her.  She got mad because she believed that I knew but wouldn't tell her.  I didn't even know where to begin with making up a story to put her mind at ease.

She became frustrated.  A few days before she was able to remember the right words to express her desires.  Yesterday, she couldn't, she was upset, she didn't want to do anything.  Nothing was bringing her joy, she was mad because her words were not coming.

Frustration leads to agitation in my mom, it's this cycle that welcomes behavior issues, behaviors that are unwanted and make Care Giving much more difficult.

Yesterday is behind us, it's Monday and the doctor is in.  I love this Monday.

"Holy #$%^, Acupuncture Worked For My Demented Mom!"

I need to write a follow up to my last post because the Acupuncture worked and it worked very well for my mother.  While it's still fresh in my mind, I must tell this story that has both my sister Donna and me flipping out with joy.

My mom was tired before dinner, she laid down and took a nap for about an hour.  When she woke up, she was a bit more cheery and friendly toward me.  She was saying things like ,"Oakey Doakey."  "Alrighty!"  all positive phrases with lots of cheeriness in her voice and on her face.

She ate dinner and then napped a little more in her chair, while the Red Sox game and the cheering crowd filled her room with white noise.

"Ma, do you want to lay in your bed?"  I asked when I saw her sleeping in her chair.

"Oh No, I just got up!"  She stated as she forced her eyes open.

I turned her bed down and told her that she could go in when she wanted.  The sheets were clean and her pillows were fluffed.

"I want to talk to Donna."  My mom said to me.  All afternoon she wanted to talk to Donna, she wanted to tell her about the visiting angel and her acupuncture experience.

I returned a few minutes later with the phone.   My mom, she was in her bed and appeared to be asleep.

"Ma, do you want to talk to Donna?"  I asked.

"YES!"  My mom said as she sat up in bed.

I handed her the phone and walked away to get my mom's night time supplements.  A few minutes later, as I was walking down the hall I heard lots of talking.  I thought it was my mom's TV.  To my surprise it was MY MOM!  She was having a full conversation with my sister.  She was telling her all about her week with the Visiting Angel, where they went, about the ice cream... then she told her about the acupuncture that she had today.  My mom talked about my sister's camp up in Maine, she told her that she wants to go up again soon and see all her grandchildren.  It was AMAZING.

If I didn't see it for myself, I never would have believed it.  My sister is my witness.  She can't believe it either.  All I can say is "Holy #$%^, Acupuncture Worked for my demented mom!"