ON SENILITY

ON SENILITY

One thing you should know about dealing with a person diagnosed with senility is that you can not reason with that person. You always try simply because they know who you are and can converse in a seemly manner.

My mother was such a person who agreed to take her meds and not use her walker to knock into the other residents on the elevator if she wanted to stay in the beautiful retirement community where she lived. After my brother and I along with our spouses talked to her for over an hour she happily agreed to the terms set by the administrator of the assisted living section of the building.  One hour later, the aide came in with her meds which she absolutely refused to take.

We now had to find a small assisted living facility that was willing to take her. Several days later she was taken out of the building, kicking and screaming and placed in wheel chair transport as my husband and I stood inside and watched out the window along with the residents and staff. 

Her new place held only about 12 residents. They all ate lunch together, played bingo and card games. It was all lovely and she seemed to do well for about two weeks.  Unfortunately, the new place felt she was doing so well that it wasn’t necessary to give her the meds that kept her on an even keel.

What happened? She went on a rampage in the middle of the night, knocked her television on the floor and scared the other residents so that one of them sat in the hall all night to protect the other residents.  This I was told when the owner called me the next morning and told me to remove her from the premises.

The moral is you can’t reason with a person with senility no matter how lucid they seem.

At least that has been my experience.

The lengthily outcome of the story I will tell in a forthcoming blog. Stay tuned.