Of course you're wondering about the title, right? Well, allow me to set it up for you first.
You see, I've written about how my mother-in-law got sick, of all days, on my birthday, last September. She was taken to the hospital where she was confined for about three days. Expectedly, she was given medication, among which, were antibiotics, probably to ward off the flu she's gotten, presumably from me. I was the first one to get sick, you see, and I was bedridden for about two days already. Anyway, during that period of time, she began to show signs that are, should I say, not normal. She was not herself anymore. I called my good friend, Doc Emer who revealed to us that there had been recent studies which show that certain antibiotics may sometimes cause erratic behavior. He said that nothing was conclusive but it would be wise to take my mother-in-law again to her doctor.
When my wife and her older sister took my MIL to the doctor, she dismissed the theory and said that my MIL is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. My wife was naturally disheartened by the news. She has seen my mother bedridden and helpless, with all dignity gone. My MIL was incoherent, making gestures we couldn't understand, and so on and so forth. All this time, it was my eldest daughter who has just recently graduated from college and was on vacation who tended to her. It went on for almost a month, but guess what, a little after she has been off the medications, she began to be herself again. Yes, she's back to her old self. Cooking, making a fuzz about disorder in the house, sometimes, even doing some laundry work when my wife missed to hand some of the laundry to the laundry woman. I guess my friend was right after all.
And so we thought everything's back to normal. However, one night, over dinner, I overheard her talking to my two younger kids. I wasn't hungry yet and was awaiting my wife to come home. She asked them if they had classes the following day. They answered in the affirmative . Then she asked, "Why, waht date is it?" They said it was October something. She said, no it wasn't. It was already November. When the kids tried to correct her, she got mad at them. So, when my wife arrived from work, she told on them. My wife patiently explained that it was still October. She got mad at my wife, and went to her room. To make a long story short, we just let her believe what she wanted to believe for after all, we've tried everything. Relatives coming to visit her would correct her and still she wouldn't believe. I told my wife we better get ready for two Christmases and two New Years. :-).
Now comes Halloween. I saw her watching the news on tv yesterday and of course, she saw the cemeteries teeming with people. My wife told her they would have to go to my FIL's grave very early. She asked why and she said it's All Soul's Day. Well, I think she's beginning to have doubts about her date. This morning, enroute either to or from the cemetery, her eldest son who was driving the car told her, "You see, it's just November 1st!" her response floored everyone inside the car.
"Awww, what kind of President do we have? Now she's even changing all the dates!" I know the President has been accused of many things but changing the dates?
Now, I have heard the President being accused of every crime and what not, but chaning the dates??? That my friends is one good reason why I am never running for any government office!
Happy Halloween everyone!
10 comments:
first off, congratulations on your daughter's graduation!! (i totally missed this post).
and i'm sorry to hear about your MIL's ailing memory --although it was a bit amusing to hear what she said about the president! LOL.
but all kidding aside, i hope it works out for the best. my lola had her own bout of Alzheimer's after my lolo passed away. some days are good, some days are bad, but things will turn out fine as long as the family continues to give their love.
Kat Thanks. It's alright.
Miraculously, my MIL's memory is not failing yet. Hopefully this is not just one of those lucid moments. It's been more than a month now that she's okay. Must've been the medication. It is my mom who's suffering from alzheimer's and she's deteriorating slowly each year.
i'm sorry to hear that sir. by the way, di ba ka birthday mo si joji? o magkasunod ba kayo? hmmm...belated happy birthday and for the first time in many years, wala kang kasabay mag celebrate sa zobel.
i miss you sir...you and joji (sigh)
naalala ko tuloy, tito rols, the other night, i was watching chelsea vs barcelona sa champion's league, tapos the night after, anderlecht against ac milan. napansin ko in both matches, kapag may player na medyo madudulas at mapapa-out ang bola dahil na last touch sa kanya, biglang tumitingin sa turf at dinidikdik ang spot of grass kung san siya napatid kuno.
kagabi, nanood din ako ng women's tennis event sa hasselt, at sa unang laban nina ivanovic at ni kreber, panay tadjak ni kreber sa sahig kapag meron siyang bolang hindi nahahabol, tilang sinisisi ang sahig, baka biglang naging hindi pantay sa mga panahong tumatakbo siya doon.
anong po-went ko??? LOL
Joyce Yes, ahead lang ako ng isang araw kay Joji. Ang lungkot nga kasi ngayon lang ako nagcelebrate na wala siya.
svelte I got your point! human nature ata ang maghanap ng masisisi. Somehow mahirap amining ikaw ay nagkamali. Lalo na't ang perception mo sa ibang tao ay cruel sa tanga. Lalo na ang mga athletes na wala nang ginawa kundi masterin ang kanilang game. hahaha
titorolly,
As you know, my deceased father-in-law was a pathologist at the St. Luke's Hospital here in San Francisco. He was the head of the department when he retired. Short after that he diagnosed himself to have alzheimers' and his doctors/colleagues confirmed his self-diagnosis.
During his care in the last few years, the family saw to it that the members especially me read something about people with alzheimers' and their care for 24 hours.(I still got that book).
But my discovery in associating with him made me doubt if it was really alzheimers'. When he shut down his communication with other members, he
still opened his to mine where I was made confidant of his blues and woes which he did not share with his family. With his stature in the medical community, it was saddening to see him act like a demented person but i saw how he tried to conceal it.
Talking to him was just like "tuesdays with Morrie," that my dearly departed MIL encouraged me to publish all the conversations that I wrote down.
I brought this to the attention of the SIL. When my FIL died, his brain was donated for study. His autopsy confirmed my theory. He did not have alzheimers'. Only a dementia that is not as serious as alzheimers'. My
SIL faxed me the copy and I have the name of the disease. It's in my files in the storage.
So even doctors get wrong in the diagnosis.
cathy Realizing that he was about to suffer an illness must've been devastating for your father. And the thought that while he realized it, he couldn't do anything about it to even stunt its growth. Considering he was a doctor and all. Truly sad!
When my mother was beginning to lose her memory, she knew she was forgetting a lot of things and was really sad for she can't do anything about it either. If only there would have been some sort of an exercise for the brain...
father-in-law titorolly.
It was not only for him but for the family as well who loved him so much.
I found him the gentlest person I ever met despite he's being combative and nasty to his nurses.
A German Russian immigrant to the United States, he finished his medical course on a scholarship at Harvard since the family can not afford to send him to a medical school. So he really worked hard to reach his status.
I saw how he suffered. I saw how he degenerated and how he handled it among his peers.
He donated his brain for study about alzheimers' disease but it turned out, it's not alzheimers'.
The problem of disorientation specially to dates and time is to put a calendar (the daily type calendar ) if possible put a big sign. TODAY IS:
I gave him also a watch that had an alarm every hour so he knows what it is.
The Ca t
cathy ay oo nga, father-in-law. Yeah, naalala ko na you told me about him before. And yes, even doctors can make wrong prognosis. sympre, tao lang sila.
that is a nasty illness- my Lola (RIP) on the father side suffered from it and she came to live with the family. We humour it and try to get along with her as there is no point in arguing as she is good in having the last word- that's what she didn't forget- being the matriarch. The only thing for me is that she reminded me of the pearl earrings and ring that i lost which she gave when i was still a teenager- she talked about it everytime she sees me. I learnt just to nod my head and said sorry to her all the time. this is really a test of our character...
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