New Year's -2

OK, wowie zowie. I went from neutral to fifth gear quickly this morning. Betty had to go to the doc and her normal caregiver is down with the creeping crud. So I hustled myself out and got her to hustle herself out. It was an interesting ride. She generally doesn't notice much of anything about the car or the outside world. In fact, if she notices anything about the car, it's to ask "How much gas is there?" God help you if it's less than half a tank. Today she had no interest in how much gas was in the car (which was good because it was less than half a tank!). Today she was watching the on-coming traffic. Something I've never known her to do except back in the days when she drove. Another thing I've NEVER seen her do is yell at other drivers. In the car today, she started critiquing the other drivers and semi-yelling out things like, "Why don't you take your half out of the middle!" and "What kind of driver are you?!" I've never known her to do anything like this. And imagine my shock and surprise when I found out she'd been to Ireland to kiss the Blarney Stone! Her doctor is a wonderful man, but he HAS the gift of gab! The man can surely talk. So I said something to the effect that, "He must have kissed the Blarney Stone." She said, "I've been there." Well, I've known Betty about 37 years now, and I have a fair bit of information about where she's been and what she's done in her life. And you know....she's never been to Ireland to my knowledge. She saw my surprise, and backed off that and said, "Well, maybe I've been someplace where the had the stone on display." Now, I'd be willing to go for that except for one thing. That stone is firmly cemented into the wall of a CASTLE. There's no removing the Blarney Stone and taking it on the road.

Clearly this admission was a part of her dementia and it's called a confabulation in clinical circles. Recently she advised Jenny that she had marched in the Civil Rights Movement, which isn't completely out of character or unbelievable, but it seems like she might have mentioned it once in 37 years of acquaintance. However, she "remembers" walking miles and miles in protests.

Today she was perky enough to get dressed to go to the doc, but she was worn OUT by the time it was time to come home. She was happy though because we stopped at KFC and she got some original recipe friend chicken to go home with her. God but she loves fried chicken.

I went to the grocery and the pharmacy and came back. She is stocked in everything from toilet paper to drugs. And double thankfully, she now has a new person coming in on the weekends to ensure she's taken her meds and ensure she's ok. She now has someone coming 7 days a week. I'm happy about that. It makes me feel easier about her. EXCEPT........

Today when in the car I asked her to take her oxygen off her before she lit up her cigarette, and she said, "Why? It won't do anything. Look." And she demonstrated how the oxygen and cigarette would not blow us up. That means she's dropping her former good habits about not smoking simultaneously while using oxygen. Sigh.

Lastly, in the world of the weird today, Betty said, "I'll be glad to get home. I believe I've started a book." Now, Betty hasn't read a book in at least 5 or 6 years. She doesn't remember the newspaper and reads it two or three times in a day because by the time she's read to the back, she's forgotten what was in the front. You can't make sense of a book, if you can't remember the sequence of the plot and characters. She isn't always sure who Jewel is (often thinking it's Jenny when Jenny was a baby) and she can't figure out which of Jenn's sister's came by this weekend. But she's reading books again. I was surprised to see that she'd obviously either dug in the garage or sent someone to dig around in the garage, and had gotten some books out to "read."

Her brain is in a special place right now for sure. Life is getting interesting, that's for sure!