Through the looking glass.
7:02 p.m.
She was concerned about her future. She felt she needed to get a job. When I queried her about this, she was convinced that she was in her 20’s and unemployed. Even though I told her repeatedly that she was in a retirement residence, she insisted that she was on an island. When I said that it wasn’t an island, she said, “Well, it used to be an island and they joined it to the rest of the city.”
Usually, after talking with her for a bit, she gives up on her fantasy and concedes that things are as I tell her they are. This time she would not let go of her delusion that she was a young woman and needed to get a job. When I finally told her she was 90, she didn’t believe me. She asked, “How can I be 90? I don’t feel old. I don’t look old!” At this point I had to tell her that she also has macular degeneration and doesn’t see so well. To this she replied that she should go see an ophthalmologist then, but I told her this was not a new condition, that her eyesight has been deteriorating steadily with it for at least 15 years.
The entire conversation was surreal. I finally told her that I would call the desk at the residence and have someone come to her room and take her to the evening activity. I did that, and the receptionist said she would get someone to bring her to the movie.
This whole occurrence has freaked me out. She has never been this bad before. The one thing she did remember, surprisingly, was that her house has been sold. Otherwise, she has no idea where she is, how old she is, and basically what has happened in the past 70 years. I mentioned that I was 52 and my brothers 55 and 59 respectively, so she couldn’t be as young as she claimed, and she just wouldn’t believe it.
I really don’t know what to do now. I guess I’ll email my brothers to keep them apprised. Otherwise, I’m helpless.
[For someone who has been updating sporadically, two entries in one day must mean something significant.]
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