Where’s my phone?????

Dorothy calls in the middle of the day- upset because she thinks someone has stolen her cell phone.  She can’t find it.   The fact of the matter is – she hasn’t had her cell phone since November 2019- but it doesn’t matter, she doesn’t remember, and she’s totally upset.   I calm her down by telling her I have her phone and I’m getting it fixed.   Suddenly- she remembers that I have it because she dropped and broke it. “why did I forget that Cheryl”?   We talked for a few minutes and she seemed to calm down and talk about the “place” she was in and how nice and clean it was. And she mentioned that the food was good too.  

Mom must have made a big ruckus about it, because the head nurse called me to tell me that Dorothy was totally upset.   I told her that I had just spoken to mom and told her that I had taken her phone to get it repaired. I ask the nurse to have someone find mom and that it might be good if someone there told her that I had it- it might settle her down and let this crisis pass.  Hopefully, the crisis had passed when mom hung up from talking to me- but who knows.  The nurse assured me she would do that and communicate with all the nurses and caregivers to tell her the same thing – if she asks about her phone again.   I never heard about the phone the rest of the day-or even during the sundowners’ call.

The sundowners call consisted of Dorothy telling me she finally figured out where she was- she was in Germantown- she was wondering why she hadn’t figured that out sooner.  One minute later she was telling me that she wanted to move back to Germantown – because that is where she wants to die.  

Dementia sucks!  I tip my hat to those who care for them every day and for the family members who have the gift to care for them and let them stay with family.

 I hope mom has a better day tomorrow.   Take me home Country Roads (John Denver)   

Peace & Love,

Cheryl Doreen