Evelyn also goes on the nod and quickly into a very deep sleep, so deep that right in the middle of a bite of food she will close her eyes, her head drops and in seconds she is sleeping. A few times I've had to pull the food out of her mouth. Her dementia has made her slightly narcoleptic. Oddly, with Alzheimer's and a few other named types of dementia like dementia pugilistica (what Muhammad Ali has with Parkinson's added to his mix) and Steele-Richardson-Olszewski dementia, the circadian cycle gets flipped. These dementia's effect the hypothalamus so patients will sleep in the day but be up all night and some of them will only get a couple hours of sleep in the day because they still have to eat.
Today was the drum circle day. It's the first time I've gone but mom has been to it before. Chris, on of the rec therapists, told me that mom was a regular participant in the circle and always wanted the big drum. That was months ago when she could still use her hands. Now, she plays a shaker, not because her hand can work well enough to play it, rather because her hands shake so much.
I've been to drum circle's before, but for spiritual reasons not therapeutic reasons and I always enjoyed them. Today was no different. I had a blast and so did my dad. There were 20 people at today's drum circle and it was loud. They move all the tables in the dining area aside and then bring whoever wants to come to the circle and the acoustics are great in the dining room so the sound echoes throughout the facility. Once a month they get some elders from the Stoney reserve to come and lead the circle so when they come next time I'll be there.
The predictability of rhythm provides the framework for repetitive responses that make few cognitive demands on people with dementia. It also helps those with Parkinson's dementia as hearing a slow, steady rhythm helps them move more steadily. Drumming also offers extensive exercise for brain cells and their synapses. It's also a form of physical exercise. But what I saw really amazed me. The self-expression that comes out in the patients that were there from my mom's wing. Eddy is first nations and he is in the same state as mom but not rapid progressing. He doesn't talk or move, he only sleeps and grunts. Yet today he drummed and he sang to the rhythm. Margaret who normally just rocks from side to side stopped rocking and intently kept the beat. Marie found her own rhythm but I watched her watch the drum leader and she wasn't trying to follow his beat she was trying to make sure that her harmony beat was in sync. Even Nora the nurse got into it with her hips. She shook her bootie to the rhythm and everyone loved.
Mom's shaker stopped making noise and when I looked over I couldn't believe what I saw. She was on the nod. Her function is that gone that she could nod off in a loud, pounding drum circle. So, I took her back to her room and tilted her chair back so she could nap a little bit before lunch and after lunch the monthly communal birthday party was happening and she needed to be rested. After lunch I took her back to the common area on her wing. She was slouchy and shaky and those are the usual indications that's she's sleepy. So, I asked her if she wanted to go to the birthday party. She said no and then said "No cake". I knew what she meant. She can't swallow the cake so she can't have the cake. I asked her if she wanted to nap in her bed and she said, "Yes, bed". I got the staff to put her to bed.
When she was settled, I went in and she was staring at the ceiling, 'sundowning' not sleeping. I stroked her hair, what's left of it, and I said this prayer. "Now I lay mom down to sleep, I pray the Lord her soul to keep. If she should die before she wakes, I pray the Lord her soul to take". She closed her eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment