Monday, February 2, 2009

My abuela tried to run away...

Today took an interesting turn for sort of the worst. I started doing my homework and my grandma who is really old and has Alzheimer's came into my room to talk to me. Usually when we talk, I just nod my head and smile, because she is hard to understand sometimes. But today, I understood her. She asked me if I was going anywhere and I told her that Amy and I were going to an Internet Cafe. She asked when and I said 6:30 because I figured we were just making conversation. She asked to come with me and I said oh...I don't know. She said that she would pay for herself. Then she asked me about going to the beach and stuff like that. Eventually she walked out of my room and into her room but left my door slightly cracked open. Then I heard the front door shut and both me and my madre got up and walked into the hallway and realized that she escaped! My madre ran out and meanwhile my abuela made her way downstairs and out another door, but there is also a gate that she would have to open to actually get out. It was so crazy because she just wanted to get out. For the next hour Amy, my madre and I had to babysit her and make sure she didn't try to leave again, which she did but we stopped her. She gave herself away because she would have her coat in her hands. She just kept asking Amy and I to take her with us wherever we were going. We kept telling her that we weren't going anywhere because we had homework. She asked us if we knew where the bus goes and if we could take her there but we said no that we had to stay here. And then when we left to go to the cafe, she was right behind us trying to get out. I just felt so bad because she didn't want to listen to my madre and she was so confused as to why she couldn't leave. It was a crazy night, and needless to say, I couldn't do my homework during that time because I was on Grandma watch. Yeah, I thought that she was my great grandma, but the lady that I thought was my grandma is my padre's sister. It was just another crazy day in Spain, but any advice on how to deal with her because I know that Poppy had Alzheimer's too. And my abuela always asks me where I live and if I am going home to my mom, and I always tell her that I live here and that I'm from the United States. It's kinda hard because I don't know how to handle people that are losing it. And my madre was pretty frazzled too, and she thinks it was because she gave my abuela too much coffee haha. Who knows. Now I know I just have to keep an eye out just in case she goes A wall again!

2 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, Holly, the poor woman. I remember when I was about 10 or 11, Grandmom was in the hospital after her heart attack, and Grandpop started getting bad with the Alzheimers, he was sitting at my house with me while my mom and dad were out, and I told him I was going to ride my bike around the block. Well, when I got back, (which was only 5-10 minutes later-it's not a big block) he was gone. In that short amount of time, he had forgotten what I'd said, and left the house to go looking for me because he didn't know why I wasn't in the house. Not long after, my parents got back and I told them what had happened, and that Grandpop wasn't at the house when I got back...well, my Dad was so scared and went looking for him in the car, he came back about 1/2 hour later with him..he'd found him further away in the neighborhood. Thank God he didn't make it out to the busy intersections by us...So I can relate the "scariness" of the whole situation...And they can get very far, very fast, it's like watching a baby...it's amazing how quick they are. I can see maybe why too much coffee could be to blame, considering the caffeine could be agitating to her. Bless her heart, and much strength to your madre who I'm sure takes such good care of her. Hope things calm down a little :)

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