The Fast and the Slow of It All

I don't like to linger over many things. I'm not a wine person, so I don't sip and savor. I'm a Diet Coke person. I am thirsty. I don't want to be thirsty, and I want to save my calories for ice cream.

I used to be the slowest person in my family. As a kid, I would still be swirling my peas around the plate, trying to make them seem like some were missing, and everyone else would be clattering forks on empty plates.

Fast forward 40-some-odd years, and I can clear my plate pretty quickly. Mom is now the one swirling peas trying to catch them on her fork. Everyone else is done, ready to leave the table, and mom is still scraping up her last morsels, scratching being the operative word.

It is like nails on a chalkboard. The family winces. Slow and steady wins the race, they say.

More methodical

It has surprised me how much slower mom has gotten. She is a little more methodical, but I think it's because she is thinking about how to do things she never gave a second thought to before. How about that sentence for contemplation!

She is an over, over-thinker now. Mom doesn't always remember her right from her left. She holds out her hand. She has a 50-50 chance of getting it right.

"No, your other left," we would jokingly say. We had that joke well before her diagnosis. It's tinged with a bit of sadness now.

Watching changes in mom

Every morning and every night, mom takes medication. Some are prescriptions, and others are vitamins. She used to check her blood sugar every morning, but her doctor changed her medication, and now she doesn't have to.

She used to write it down and check whether or not she had taken her pills. Now the routine is much simpler. Mom takes her pills and writes the day, abbreviating to 2 letters, and the date. Then, she writes the time she took them and AM or PM. An entry would be TU/31 9:34 AM. I would think, easy peasy.

I watched mom look at her digital clock and then at her notebook and write ever so slowly. It took her 5 whole minutes to write that. I watched the numbers tick by. I ask myself, is it better for me to do it? I can write all that in 3 seconds if I want to be neat.

But I want mom to be as self-sufficient as she can be for as long as she can be.

A bookworm

Mom also likes to read. That's another thing that has slowed way down.

She used to read these "love-inspired" romance novels that she got at Walmart. She would buy 4 new ones every month. She was always working on a book. She would read one or 2 a week.

She has gotten way behind. She has been working on this paperback for at least a few months. She carries it with her everywhere. She might read a bit during her shows or if she has to wait in a store or doctor's office.

Coping with the slow progression of Alzheimer's

The book is falling apart, but she is determined to finish it, even if she doesn't really remember what is happening. I feel like it is some grand analogy. Keep pressing on. I put tape on the spine to hold the pages together. Finish. I think she has reread a chapter since she forgot where she was.

Take setbacks in stride. Keep trying. It is, after all, a love story.