Nana Update!

Hi everyone! Well our dear sweet Nana (great-grandma) is now living in Prescott next to her son Val and his wife Linda.
Val regularly updates us on Nanas condition. She such a precious soul!
So heres the scoop on Nana....

Dear Family -

As we begin November, I just wanted to give you an update on Mother and how she is doing. Mother's condition has not changed since last month's report. She has adjusted very well to her new surroundings

and have won the hearts of her caregivers! I have to tell mother who I am on each visit and her reply is always "Oh of course", but until I do that she seems very confused. Mother has some good days (meaning she remembers things in her early past as well as who we children are and our names) and some bad days (meaning she is very confused and is living in another part of her life). One bad day in particular she "was cooking a big dinner" and wanted me and my family to stay for dinner. All her other children "were in another part of the house and she was just going to finish it up". Once I got her out of her apartment and started walking down the hall towards the activity center she quickly forgot about that conversation and was focused on the art along the hallway.

Mother is still a real charmer and caregiver herself. On two occasions when we exited her room to take her for a walk or a ride there was another patient wandering the hallway. Mother always takes their hand and to-

gether we all walk down to the activity room, all the while mother talking to that person to make them feel

comfortable. One such occasion was with Edna, which is a "conversation" that I could not write down as

I didn't understand it myself. Edna is a woman probably in her mid to late 80's, She suffers with a very severe case of dementia and recalls nothing. She is most anxious to talk to anyone and always wants to go with them wherever they are going. Edna will wonder in any room and think it is hers. She has been known to clime into another patient's bed and go to sleep, consequently all patient's rooms are locked when they are not in them. So, one day I came to visit mother, knocked on the door and announced my presence and I hear mother excusing herself so I came in and there was Mother in her chair and Edna on the couch having

"a visit". Mother tells me that she has a houseguest and so I excuse myself and leave her room. I find a

caregiver a couple of rooms down and explain the situation and she immediately gets on the radio and tells the staff that Edna has been found. They come in Mother's room and gently take Edna to her own room. Mother was really relieved. She didn't want to "visit" any longer and "didn't want to hear all of Edna's problems". A couple of minutes later Mother did not remember anything of the "visit" or that she had a "guest".

I did attend one of Mother's morning activities where one of the caregivers brings in her dog and lets the dog go around to each of the patients who are there and let them pet her. That gave me an occasion to tell them the story of Daisy Mae. Those who could comprehend the story really loved it. Mother couldn't.....but she was so proud to introduce me as her son...........not by name, but it really made me feel good.

Mother's caregivers seem to really keep mother busy with whatsoever they do in their activity room. Most of the time during the week I can find Mother there. She likes to take a nap after lunch but her caregivers will get her up around 3:00 for bingo or whatever until dinner at 5:00. Sometimes Mother will tell them that she is tired and they will leave her alone until dinner. On the weekends I have noticed that Mother spends a lot of time in bed. Saturday, for example, Linda and I visited Mother around noon and found her still in bed. We talked to the caregiver on duty and she said that Mother told them that she didn't feel so hot and wanted to

stay in bed. They check on her every hour. Mother just wanted to stay in bed! I told Linda that when I get

to be 95 I don't want anyone to tell me to get up if I just wanted to rest...............and at 95 I should be able to do and eat whatever I want. When Mother has two deserts sometimes at dinner she deserves it !!

Anyway, hopefully that gives you a flavor of what's going on in Mother's live during September.

Love you, Val