Every trip to the nursing home depresses me more and more. Not just because there's little recognition, if any, from Mom but because there are so few answers - period! Research is critical as with any disease but when dealing with physical diseases, often people recover and can describe their experiences and their physicians can track their drugs, treatments and recovery...or demise. Alzheimer's can only be researched through behavior which must be observed and studying the brain of deceased sufferers. NOBODY knows what they're thinking....s-c-a-r-y! I'm almost always greeted by a sleeping, slumping "nonagenarian" (90+.) A little shake and she awakens almost always with a smile.....but not a smile of recognition:-( Nonetheless, I'll take that smile. She is seldom, if ever, combative or angry or sad... all emotions I hope to never see. My deepest regret from each visit is not knowing what she's in there..
The drawings above are from a 3+ decade span of an Alzheimer's patient's self portraits. I'm not sure whether I personally find this helpful, encouraging or stressful.... Whichever, it gives some interesting insight into the digression of mental acuity.. Once again S-C-A-R-Y.... I am seriously thinking about organ donation when the time arrives. Once again, I hope I make the right decisions. I can easily find bumper stickers asking WWJD.......but I have yet to locate one that begs WWBD (What Would Buzz Do).... I guess I'll just have to wing it;-)
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