Grandpa says the darndest things

1. When Grandpa came back from one of his many frequent 5-minute walks, Ben asked him how he was.
Grandpa: "I'm good. But I'm not proud"
Ben: "Proud of what?"
Grandpa: "I was gone significantly longer than I should have."


2. Grandpa was wrapping something up in a paper towel, so carefully that it must have been quite a treasure. Isaac asked him what he had in there.
Gpa slowly unwrapped the paper-towel package to reveal: A Pine Needle.
Isaac: "What are you going to do with that?"
G: "I want to present it to the inspector."
I: "It's okay, Grandpa. You can throw it away. The inspector doesn't want it."
G: "No! I saw that it same from the tree, fell on the ground, and now we're done with it." (so... I suppose he was thinking that it needed to be returned to its Creator?) Gpa fumbled with his treasure, folded and refolded the paper towel, then gumpily thrust it at Isaac, and said "You do it."

3. Grandpa, in a conversation with Vince:
G: "Admiral Keene is someone that I am aquainted with."
V: "Yeah?"
G: "And his daughter." (after a little bit he continues) "And his daughter. When he was still living in Coronado." ..... "and so I want to recommend him for consideration to the people for some position..."
V: "Well, you know he died some time ago, right?"
G: "I know.... that he is still in the living condition."

He doesn't remember how to take a shower

* He can lather up with soap just fine, but can't figure out how to wash it off.

* He also needs help getting dressed and undressed. It's the sequential interplay of 'on' and 'off' that just buggars him.

* He has two speaking voices. One is hale and hearty, emphatic with the joy of life that has always been in his possession. "My what a beautiful day!"..... "Look at that - 6 axels on that truck. My goodness!".... "You are certainly an excellent driver. I'm very impressed. You certainly know your way around. Have you lived here long?" "I'm happy to be spending this time with you."

His other voice is quiet, mumbling, with his chin tucked down. I can barely hear him. This is when he's lost in his inability to make his way between his thoughts and his word choices. Salad.

* And as for his amazing, endless appetite... it has tapered off quite a bit. He forgets to finish his meal in front of him and falls asleep. Over the past few months, he has lost ten pounds. I don't know why, since it isn't for lack of access to calories. I'm guessing his body isn't using what he eats.

*Sleeping much more often. Much, much more.


All these things indicate progression of his disease. Sad, but true. Made me cry when I realized it.

Addendum - Hey, it turns out he had a urinary tract infection. As I thought about all those things, they turned into a set of symtoms for me. The elderly are like babies in this way - you really have to hunt for the clues of an infection, have a high index of suspicion. MaryEllen helped me validate my suspicion and suggested a good antibiotic. Thank you, M.E.! He's much better now, but this just goes to show how tenuous his baseline is.

Word salad

Word salad is a mixture of random words that, while arranged in phrases that appear to give them meaning, actually carry no significance. The words may or may not be grammatically correct, but the meaning is hopelessly confused. A famous example is Noam Chomsky's phrase, "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."

It often represents a symptom of a mental condition in which a person attempts to communicate an idea, but random words come out instead. Often, the person is unaware that he or she did not make sense. It appears in people with dementia and schizophrenia.

Grandpa has dementia. His word salads are being served to us more often. Tonight's was very special:

Me, driving him to a store while the sun was setting: "Beautiful sunset, Grandpa!"
Him: "Yes, the sun and the sockshine"

His aim is not good

so....... God bless Vince for mopping the floor of Gpa's bathroom THREE times today to keep it smelling good!

Grandpa gets lost when sitting down

a text from Vince:
"Gpa has been watching tv with me in the living room. He forgot where he was and asked if he was going back to his place soon. So I took him back to his room. He's ok now."

Later, Grandpa brought out a bathtowel which he had wrapped tightly into a ball, and held it out to show Vince. Vince asked him about it, and Grandpa stuttered, mumbled, couldn't find a complete word to use. Vince unwrapped the ball; in it was Gpa's toothpaste and wallet. Hmm. Mysterious!

Later, getting Gpa ready for bed, Vince had him change into pyjamas. Oh wait, there's his toothbrush in his shirt pocket. And the razor is in his pants pocket. Hmmm...

ah. We think that Grandpa had decided it was a time to travel someplace, and that he had to pack up his personal items. Not having a suitcase, he wrapped things in a towel to make a travel pack. And stashed the rest in his pockets.

Hey, dreams - it's me! Richard Ralph!

When Grandpa goes to Eldercare, they give him an ID tag to wear so that they can call him by his name. When he comes home still wearing it, we take it off and put it on his side table until the next session.

During the night, he often gets up and rummages through his drawers, sometimes changing his clothes completely, going back to bed so that we find him dressed in something entirely different than we set him up in the night before.

This morning, we found he had re-attached his ID tag to his pyjamas. Perhaps he wanted to make sure his wandering dreams found him during the night.

Grandpa's musings about himself

This is from an Eldercare activity to incourage introspection and writing (his answer in blue):

What I've been told about me..... That I'm a very good person! and very helpful to others!
(I'm glad he remembers this, as it is something I tell him often)

What I tell myself about me... That I help any neighbors and friends and do not harm anyone!

What I really know about me... That I help my neighbors and friends and do not harm others!

July 2011