ALZHEIMER'S BLOGGING:

Today as I work on my ambulance I am doing a lot of running from urgent cares and taking their patients to hospitals. I have had a lot of people in pain. I HATE pain. One lady was in so much abdominal pain and so dehydrated I could not find a vein in her arm or hand. But I found a great on her foot. And yes she got morphine for her pain. It is amazing how the brain works. You skin your knee, a message goes to your brain, and than you feel the pain. Now think of how your loved one with Alzheimer's brain works. They don't know who you are, or where they are, or how old they are. So how are they suppose to know if they are in pain.

I remember watching my father in law walk up and down the hall of his house. He would keep a hand on the wall, guiding himself and pray to Mother Mary. I wasn't sure at first why he was doing that. He really wasn't a religious man, or at least I had never seen him pray before. I did ask him if he was in pain, and he would tell me no. But his body language told me a lot about him. As I watched him get up and down from a chair, or listen to when he would pray, I figured out that it was when he was in so much pain. After taking him to a doctor I found out that the hip bone joint and the ball inside grew flat to each other, rubbing against each other when he walked. The doctor told me he was in a lot of pain.

Hope this helps you with your loved one. Be kind and practice random acts of kindness.

Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint Of James A Rock Co., Pub.
www.mariefostino.com