Spent most of the day in the Emergency Room with Mom #EndALZ

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Today started like any other Sunday. We did wake up a little later than normal, but otherwise, it was a normal Sunday morning.

Yesterday, Mom was having some difficulty with following commands (please don’t take this term the wrong way)! ie. please lift this leg up and put in the car, pick up the fork and eat the food on it, etc. Mom did not eat much yesterday at lunch and dinner, but I think she had enough food to maintain a healthy balance.

Back to today!

We went to our favorite family restaurant for breakfast (Red Star Diner). We know everyone by name there and they are so awesome with our family. This is probably the 4th or 5th time that we had to have an ambulance called, while we were there for breakfast.

We met up with some family friends for breakfast (John and Chris). Chris is a nurse practitioner and was with us for breakfast.

Mom ordered her usual breakfast (Strawberry and Bananas on French Toast with whip cream). She also had a side of bacon. Mom ate pretty well this morning. She normally does really well with breakfast.

After breakfast, we were sitting there talking and mom started to fall asleep at the table. I had my dad go out and get the car and bring it up to the door. I tried to get mom to stand up so we could leave. She kept saying yes, but did not get up. She was falling in and out of sleep. She also was not able to execute on basic commands. When I said stand up she said yes, but did not know what to do.

Our friend Chris tried as well to wake her up and get her moving too.

Mom basically collapsed in her chair and became completely non-responsive. Her hands became cold, sweaty and calmy. She started to shake and vomited. She still was non-responsive and physically and mentally out cold.

We called 911 and they were there shortly to assist and take her to Toledo Hospital. The restaurant staff was great and help with every request. Several of the customers also stepped up to help. I feel bad for the other customers in there having breakfast; it’s not always easy to enjoy your meal and time with friend and family during a medical emergency. I am so happy that the staff at Red Star Diner care so much and they are like family for us. They care and you can see it!

Dad rode in the ambulance with mom to the hospital. I ran home to get Mom’s ID and medical card. Our friends ran to the house while they were caring for Mom to get her prescription list (the one we had, was out of date by a few weeks).

When I arrived at the hospital, they were caring for Mom and getting her stable. They ran several tests and could not find anything wrong. This is one of the most frustrating things. I know something was seriously wrong and they are not able to diagnose with anything specific that made sense.

I also made sure to inform everyone that walked in to see her that she was in late stage alzheimer’s and would not understand why she was there and how to describe what happened. I also ensured they understood that she needed extra care and patience.

The entire staff at the hospital was great to work with. They released Mom about 4 hours later to go home.

On our way out, Mom had to go to the bathroom. I told the nurse that she needed full assistance in the bathroom to ensure that she had the help she needed.

As I was walking by the next ER room, a lady stepped out of that room and commented on my Alzheimer’s shirt! I wear purple every day. I had the one on today that says “The End of Alzheimer’s Starts with Me”. She said that she was there with her Mom and her Mom has Alzheimer’s. How crazy is that? Two rooms right next to each other in the ER and both are there for the same reason! (Alzheimer’s). Her Mom goes to the same day center that my Mom goes to. They probably talk to each other every day in the day center! Thankfully, neither of them will remember this horrible day!

Her Mom wandered and was found by a jogger. I referenced my friend Alex and the work he is doing with Dog Rescue for missing persons with Alzheimer’s; she know who I was talking about.

I talked to her about adding a home alarm to the house (we did this for Mom). This will help with peace of mind when sleeping. I also recommended that they get a bed alarm and chair alarm to notify when she get ups and wanders (we did this for Mom too). It’s amazing that we crossed paths and that conversation led to sharing personal experiences with dealing with this disease. I shared my contact information and she is going to reach out to me for information on some of the tools, that I referenced.

Mom is home resting now! We are just taking it easy today! Thanks for listening!

We have to fight to end this horrible disease!