What were those white things on her that seemed to be so illusive as she tried over and over to pick them up with her 97-year-old arthritic hands. Each time she tried, she failed, and finally in desperation she turned to her daughter sitting beside her and asked her to pick them up and toss them away. The daughter at first said that she couldn't see anything, which only caused her mother to become more frustrated, replying, "You can't see them; well look closer!"
The lightbulb went on in her daughter's mind, when she said as she pretended to be picking something off her mother's blanket and tossing it into the nearby trash can, "There I threw it away!" Her mother, looking down on the white blanket replied, "Well, I can still see it!"
Reality would start returning as soon as the doctor got the test results and medication could be started for a common infection of many elderly patients, but for the next few hours her daughter would try her best to attain a high level of patience as she tried to distract her mother from those bothersome things (animal, mineral, or vegetable?) upon which she was fixated.
Delusions are so real to the one experiencing them, and so frustrating for those trying to understand and help. While we smile now, at the time it had to take the utmost patience since she was not about to be convinced that it was all in her mind. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to care for someone who suffers from chronic delusion, I'm glad this was just the ill-effect of a medical issue!
ReplyDeleteThen again, there are times that we assume what someone is experiencing isn't real, but we learn much later that it probably was. I had just such a conversation with my sister today!
That would be horrible to discover that what we assumed was a delusion really wasn't, especially if it was something terrible.
DeleteHow sad and horrible for the daughter, to watch her mother, once so vibrant and wonderful, decline to the point of picking lint. I'm sure the side effects of medications on the elderly are responsible for so many behaviors which could be attributed to aging.
ReplyDeleteIt must be difficult for the doctors to know what to prescribe too, since not everyone reacts in the same way to the different medications.
DeleteWatching my MIL do this now...
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so sorry for her and for you. I hope she gets better soon.
DeleteThis is so sad...
ReplyDeleteYes, it was. At the time, I didn't realize it was just temporary, and help was on the way.
DeleteI'm glad it only lasted for a while--though I'm sure it seemed like ages!
ReplyDeleteYes, it did seem like so much longer than it actually was.
DeleteSo frustrating when something common like eg a UTI can csuse havoc in the mind... makes both sides feel helpless!!! I hope its all resolved!
ReplyDeleteYes, it did get resolved. :-)
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