'Let's Go Get Stoned"

It seems that urinary tract infections as well as antibiotics, can trigger temporary dementia in senior patients.  The Aged Parent has got a nasty UTI, and has been in rare form since Sunday.  On that day, she refused to get out of bed, despite the best efforts of myself and Ginny ( my sister) to get her up.  At one point, Mom said " I just can't put the pieces together" and we gave up at that point, figuring if she was that confused, she might risk falling during the bed to wheelchair transfer.

So, I had to change Mom's adult diaper, which made her quite hostile.  After I got her to lay down on the bed, she glared at me, and said in an angry voice ' you just love this. don't you?"  and I said no, I did not really care for it at all.  She then said 'it gives you power over me".  I never really thought of what power I accrued while changing a soiled or wet adult diaper.  Am I supposed to feel like Catherine The Great or Elizabeth I of England?    No, Mom is a control freak who is losing control of her world, and isn't too pleased about it.

Some of her hallucinations have been pretty funny, because she won't be told they are mistaken.  Sunday night, she asked Ginny why she had a piece of bread on top of her head.  Ginny tried explaining it was the top of her ponytail, but Mom wouldn't be told, so I hid my laughter behind the pages of 'Being George" ( an oral biography of George Plimpton).

Yesterday, after I got back from my doctor's appointment, Mom asked "did Michael call?".  I said "Michael?"  thinking she meant my ex brother in law.  She looked at me pitingly and said "Michael Crawford.  He's supposed to come by the house and teach me to ride a Vespa scooter".  I just like the image of Michael Crawford ( phantom of the opera) and Mom on a Vespa, like Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in 'Roman Holiday.".