I thought I know it all. I thought I was prepared. I thought I was ready. I thought I understood the condition and progression of this disease. After I all, I read, and I research when my mother showed signs of dementia.
Needless to say, what I know, what I read, and what I deal with on the daily basis with my mother is totally unpredictable and completely opposite. As soon as I can come up with a solution for a certain problem, another one pops up. It never ends!
At first, things were still manageable, and we can make jokes out of how we forgetting things. After she lost the realization of time and date, things just spiraled downward from then.
In general, knowledge is powerful and prepared you for the long road ahead if you are taking care of an elderly parent. However, you must personally get to know the person on a very deep level, especially your parent's personalities, characters, and traits.
If they were difficult before, you can absolutely count on them being 10 times more difficult as the dementia progresses.
Below is how I am learning to deal with my mother's dementia for the past five years:
So many things can happen in a blink of an eye with a dementia person. Moods swing is one of the most common and major ones. They have reversed back to being a child. Constantly need supervision, care, and love.
I am positive that my mom doesn't want it this way, nor knowing what is happening to her either. My mentality remains in this one thought: *she took care of me before, now it is my turn to take care of her* with love, patience, and grace.
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