Two years down the line: Care for a bedridden mother with dementia
September 30, 2011 21 Comments
My mother often told me stories when I was a child; while I have forgotten the details, some images linger on. Like the one of a delicate, sweet princess who was so loved and pampered that she never had to put her feet down on the floor.
It is almost two years now that my mother has been the princess now, bedridden as she is, and in late-stage dementia. We try and give her all possible comfort though she rarely utters a word to explain what she wants. I am not sure she feels pampered, though. For it is not by choice that she lies on bed and cannot even turn, nor is her silence her choice.
I have described this stage of my mother’s dementia in previous posts (you can read the entries chronologically is you check out the page here, and read from bottom up (sorry, but that’s the way blogs work). The milestones are covered in A new phase of caregiving: a bedridden mother, Ramblings on love, hate, and a life worth living, A year later: One year of care for a bedridden mother, Enjoying fun time with my mother, Keeping her happy: Challenges of late-stage dementia care,and Some days are good.
But as we complete two years, it is perhaps time for another update, even though nothing drastic has happened.
Most volunteers and organizations who aim at supporting family caregivers of persons with dementia focus on early and mid-stage dementia. Challenges tackled are typically related to agitation, wandering, aggression, and other difficult behavior, and volunteers counsel caregivers on preventing or coping with these, or on enriching the life of patients through reminiscence therapy and activities and things like that. Caregiver manuals typically skimp over late-stage care, possibly because in many countries, patients in this stage are cared for in institutions.
Not so in India, where almost all care for all stages happens at home.