Okay, so maybe now I'm getting carried away but we have to laugh, right?
Anyway, this afternoon was the most beautiful day that we've had this year so I only shut the glass door to let a little sunshine in. I usually lock it but I forgot and she walked out while I wasn't paying attention. A few minutes later I was looking for her and finally thought to go out front (I was starting to freak out a bit). I looked down and there she was getting out of the driver's seat of our neighbor's car. She must have realized that she was somewhere she shouldn't be because she quickly came back up the steps. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I just thought I'd go for a drive" and started laughing really hard. Maybe that's her version of a prank on me. I think I just got "punked" (okay, okay- enough with the Ashton Kuchar(sp) references).
Alma
Alma in College
Thursday, February 17, 2011
music
I did not realize that Alma was a fan of music, let alone a Johnny Cash fan until a few weeks ago when she asked me to put some on. Since then, when she seems sad, I put on some Johnny Cash and her mood changes instantly. Anyway, she heard this song today and thought it was so beautiful so I found it on youtube to share. Enjoyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rb1rse0fKs
bad dreams
I went in to check on Alma this morning and she was huddled under her covers and their were clothes strewn all over the room. When I called out her name, she peeked out from under the blanket and I noticed she had been crying. She told me she was scared. I sat with her for a while while she told me about a childhood memory. She wasn't sure if it was a dream or real. I'm guessing it was a combination of the two. I just sat with her for a while while she talked. I'm not sure how much to share here. While I believe that a full disclosure will be the most beneficial to those who choose to read this (as well as for my own personal need to keep track daily), I want to do so in a way that best protects Alma.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Feelings
Yes, my original intention was to track daily progress and I've been slow to start. Hopefully, now that we are settling in, I will find my way here at least a couple of times a week.
This has been a hard week for Alma. Her cognitive ability differs daily. There are many days when she is pretty unaware of what's going on and seems pretty confused. On those days, she appears pretty happy and content. Then there are the days when she is fairly cognizant ofher condition. Those are the days we struggle the most.
Monday was Valentines Day and Alma's good friend, Carol came over with lunch. They have been friends since their sons were young and they attended the same Church of Christ. Alma was in good spirits during the visit but as soon as Carol left, I detected a change in her mood. It was if she became aware of her limitations by her intereaction with someone who used to be a peer. She became quiet, weepy and pretty much inconsolable. I tried all of my normal methods of distraction ( coloring, a puzzle, a silly movie, her favorite foods ect) and nothing worked. She was very emotional and focusing on the fact that she feels she has nothing to contribute to the family. I reminded her that we were very happy to have her with us an we love her but nothing would soothe her. I finally just sat in the chair next to her bed and let her cry until she fell asleep.
Yesterday she still seemed pretty down. I asked ehr how she was feeling and she said she didn't know. She spent the afternoon with our daughter out in Catawba helping to babysit and four year old friend. As soon as she came home, she went to her room and went to bed. Again, I tried to talk to her and she just kept saying she was okay and to leave her alone.
Today I decided to try something different. The problem is that I was beginning to feel pretty agitated and depressed myself. I took an hour time out while my husband took Alma with him to ride out and pick up our daughter at her college. That seemed to help. I just needed some time to think about some other possible ways to redirect Alma's attention.
A colleague of mine was talking about making feelings cards for her two attachment disordered adopted children. It only made sense to me that this might work for her. After I was done kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner, Alma and I sat down together and made faces on index cards with the feeling word underneath. She was able to identify several different feelings in the hour we spent on this project. Unfortunately, she started out feeling pretty "happy" and "optimistic" and our little "session" ended with her feeling quite "sad" and "lonely". I'm a little worried I might have triggered her a bit by focusing so much energy on emotion. Hmmmm...something to keep in mind.
This has been a hard week for Alma. Her cognitive ability differs daily. There are many days when she is pretty unaware of what's going on and seems pretty confused. On those days, she appears pretty happy and content. Then there are the days when she is fairly cognizant ofher condition. Those are the days we struggle the most.
Monday was Valentines Day and Alma's good friend, Carol came over with lunch. They have been friends since their sons were young and they attended the same Church of Christ. Alma was in good spirits during the visit but as soon as Carol left, I detected a change in her mood. It was if she became aware of her limitations by her intereaction with someone who used to be a peer. She became quiet, weepy and pretty much inconsolable. I tried all of my normal methods of distraction ( coloring, a puzzle, a silly movie, her favorite foods ect) and nothing worked. She was very emotional and focusing on the fact that she feels she has nothing to contribute to the family. I reminded her that we were very happy to have her with us an we love her but nothing would soothe her. I finally just sat in the chair next to her bed and let her cry until she fell asleep.
Yesterday she still seemed pretty down. I asked ehr how she was feeling and she said she didn't know. She spent the afternoon with our daughter out in Catawba helping to babysit and four year old friend. As soon as she came home, she went to her room and went to bed. Again, I tried to talk to her and she just kept saying she was okay and to leave her alone.
Today I decided to try something different. The problem is that I was beginning to feel pretty agitated and depressed myself. I took an hour time out while my husband took Alma with him to ride out and pick up our daughter at her college. That seemed to help. I just needed some time to think about some other possible ways to redirect Alma's attention.
A colleague of mine was talking about making feelings cards for her two attachment disordered adopted children. It only made sense to me that this might work for her. After I was done kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner, Alma and I sat down together and made faces on index cards with the feeling word underneath. She was able to identify several different feelings in the hour we spent on this project. Unfortunately, she started out feeling pretty "happy" and "optimistic" and our little "session" ended with her feeling quite "sad" and "lonely". I'm a little worried I might have triggered her a bit by focusing so much energy on emotion. Hmmmm...something to keep in mind.
Today
Now that I've begun to share her story (really our story), I would like to focus daily on her activities. Today is as good a day as any.
Alma is a 69 year old female. She is five feet, four inches tall and weighs around 125 pounds. She loves to walk outdoors, read the newspaper and watch romantic comedies (she especially likes Adam Sandler movies which I find hilarious).
When she moved in with us last summer, we painted her bedroom the color that hers was at ther house and did our best to set the room up in a way that was most familiar to her. Even with all of the care we took to keep things familiar, we are noticing that she tends to be quite "out of it" most mornings. There have been several times recently where she just doesn't seem to know where she is or how she got there.
Most of our days are pretty routine. I am her primary caretaker. She wakes up around 6am and I bring her oatmeal, fruit and coffee which she eats while watching the news. Once everyone else in the familiy leaves for the day, we take care of bathing and little household tasks. Then we usually get out for a walk and spend the rest of the day running errands or doing various activities that I come up with that might entertain her temporarily. Due to the fact that our family is pretty active, we rarely get dinner together before seven. However, we've noticed that Alma likes to go to bed at around 6pm so I try to either have dinner ready early, or take care of her and let her go to bed early.
Now that we have a bit of background, I will move on to hopefully shorter posts about her progress each day. If there is anyone out there interested in reading about this, please feel free to interject. I would like to conclude this post with a reminder that I have no clue what I'm doing!
Alma is a 69 year old female. She is five feet, four inches tall and weighs around 125 pounds. She loves to walk outdoors, read the newspaper and watch romantic comedies (she especially likes Adam Sandler movies which I find hilarious).
When she moved in with us last summer, we painted her bedroom the color that hers was at ther house and did our best to set the room up in a way that was most familiar to her. Even with all of the care we took to keep things familiar, we are noticing that she tends to be quite "out of it" most mornings. There have been several times recently where she just doesn't seem to know where she is or how she got there.
Most of our days are pretty routine. I am her primary caretaker. She wakes up around 6am and I bring her oatmeal, fruit and coffee which she eats while watching the news. Once everyone else in the familiy leaves for the day, we take care of bathing and little household tasks. Then we usually get out for a walk and spend the rest of the day running errands or doing various activities that I come up with that might entertain her temporarily. Due to the fact that our family is pretty active, we rarely get dinner together before seven. However, we've noticed that Alma likes to go to bed at around 6pm so I try to either have dinner ready early, or take care of her and let her go to bed early.
Now that we have a bit of background, I will move on to hopefully shorter posts about her progress each day. If there is anyone out there interested in reading about this, please feel free to interject. I would like to conclude this post with a reminder that I have no clue what I'm doing!
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