old stories

[same_sky]

My grandmother has Alzheimer's. I have been planning a post about that for a long while but it's one of those subjects that hurts when you think about it so I never really want to get into it. She is at a point right now where she is.. gone. She doesn't know people all the time (or even most of the time) and she is so, so frail. She sits and cries a lot, and takes her shoes off and puts them back on, and she can't even feed herself anymore, much less follow a conversation. Yet.. the following incident occurred this week, and I will write it all out the long way because my grandfather (I call him Papaw) was telling a story that we've all heard many times, and it's cute.

Although both of my grandparents are from this general area, when Papaw returned from WWII, he went away to work in Ohio. I think he returned home quite frequently, though, probably in part because my grandmother was there. In any case, he was working at a construction site, and one of his coworkers accidentally hit him in the head with a two-by-four. He went off to the doctor, got eleven stitches and the weekend off. So, he came back to Kentucky, and while he was here.. he married my grandmother. When he returned to work on Tuesday, his boss came up to him and here's the gist of the conversation.

"Well, Olgie, I guess you got hurt a lot worse than I thought you did," the boss said.

"Nah, I'm fine," my grandfather said, a little confused. "I wasn't hurt that bad."

"Well, the guys said you were pretty bad off.. you alright now?"

"Yeah, I just got some stitches, it was no big deal."

"Well, the way I heard it, you got your head hit so hard that you went and got married!"

We've all heard this story before. My mom said she knew she'd heard it a dozen times in the last year. And yet, it was still something of a surprise when my silent grandmother turned to my mom, shook her head and said, "Same old stories."

She's there sometimes. I know she is.

Comments

[courtesy.livejournal.com]

That story is so gorgeous, I'm glad she's still there sometimes. Although, I guess, in some ways, she's still there all the time, just ... different. I'm so sorry your grandmother has Alzheimers. *hugs* My granny in Austria had it too and I used to spend a lot of time with her listening to her 'talk'. It is heart breaking to watch.

By the way, I found (and this may not be for everyone) that the thing that upset her the most was when people pointed out the things she had forgotten, as in, when they corrected her, it reminded her every day that something terrible was wrong or had happened ... and she had to relive it over and over and over and was quite embarrassed .... I often instead just went along with her 'story' and she found that so relaxing, even if it feels you are being a bit silly. Easier said than done, particularly when there's still a partner around and other family members. *double hugs*

[lizardek.livejournal.com]

Somestimes the same old stories are the best ones :)

[reebert.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's sweet! It's those things that are nice to remember. :)

[e11en.livejournal.com]

That made me smile.

[ozswede.livejournal.com]

Beautiful story! I love old stories.

[stewlis.livejournal.com]

I think I remember you telling that story before, and I liked it...still do, it's cute. I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. My brother-in-law's father had Alzheimer's, and I was close with Donna then and spent a lot of time with them, they lived with Dick's parents at the time in Lexington until they could save enough money to buy their own house. So, it was hard to watch him deteriorate from a strong-willed, able-minded ex-military of some sort type, to a withering man who greeted his wife and kids as if they were total strangers off the street and poured OJ in his cereal and then complained, asking who would do such a cruel thing as that to him so early in the morning. He'd go out to get the paper, and end up in the car, halfway across Lexington, lost, not knowing who he was or how to get home. They actually got one of those Medical ID things for him with his name, address, and phone number so people who found him would know what to do.

*hugs*

Anyway, it's an awful disease and it's so hard to deal with. I read an article during my thyroid research time when I had no energy for anything else, and I read something that said a lot of people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's actually have advanced thyroid disorders, which mimic the symptoms...depression, crying a lot, loss of brain function, confusion, intermittent periods of knowing.

I've battled with that to some degree since September, and I have a newfound compassion and understanding of those who have problems of any kind, not being able to do what they want, when they want, not being able to think clearly and understand. It's terrible, but at least I know mine will eventually be all better after my body gets the hormones it needs and does the necessary repairs.

Just a thought, though...make sure the doc checked her thyroid levels. Might not be it at all, but could be, and even if they're a little bit off, treating that part might bring her back some or buy her some time.