Month: January 2020

11:05 AM – I heard some banging upstairs and went up to investigate, seen that all the lights were on upstairs and as I got up there, I heard Mom say, “Gives you a whole lot of confidence in my boys.” So, I asked her what was up and she replied, “I’ve been trying to get a hold of someone because I seen a python slither across the floor.” I told her that she didn’t and she said, “Fine. You’re calling me a liar then.” I told her that yeah, I am and then told her to go down and take her meds and eat some breakfast. She started doing the “I don’t want to argue” crap again, so I repeated myself more firmly and walked back downstairs. She came down a few minutes later and is now in the kitchen fixing a bowl of cereal. Evidently, even though she had been upstairs all night, she must not have been sleeping or something. I really hope I’m not going to have a repeat of last week again. *sighs*

9:55 AM – Mom finally came downstairs. I don’t know if she had been sleeping the whole time since she went upstairs at 2:15 PM yesterday or not, but at the moment, she’s not talking to herself out in the kitchen, so that might be a good sign.

2:00 AM – Sometime between 1:20 and 1:30, I heard a “STOP IT” from upstairs, so I grabbed my phone and went up taking video. I captured about 26 minutes of video. At the end I’m trying to shut it down and get her to go to bed, that backfired and I ended up getting flipped off. Anyway, I’ll try to get that video on here ASAP.

Now, in case anyone thought I was making up Mom talking to herself, here’s some video (I had to really compress the video so it wouldn’t take forever to start playing, but it shouldn’t effect anything. The original was 3 GB, so compression needed to be done. Hopefully you will be able to turn your volume up enough to hear everything, including my quiet comments.):

2:20 AM – I went back upstairs to see if she was getting ready for bed or if she was still talking to invisible people. She was just sitting on her bed and asked me, “So you heard it that time?” I replied that I didn’t hear a thing and she called me a liar. I told her that she needed to go to bed and she walked up to me, turned around and listened. Then she said, “Well, maybe they’ve gathered everyone up and gone home.” So I told her, “Good. Now you can get to bed.” She went down to the bathroom and then back upstairs. Hopefully things will be quiet for the rest of the night.

6:15 AM – Well, I’m guessing I’m not going to get any sleep today, so tonight at work should be hell. The reason I say that is Mom is upstairs on the landing talking to someone that’s not there again.

7:10 AM – I captured 30 minutes of video of her talking to a little girl that’s small enough to fit in her cupped hands. The entire video is her trying to coax this little girl into the palms of her hands. This little girl is apparently petrified of me for unknown reasons and several times Mom threatened to hurt me more than I hurt her if I did anything to her and multiple times threatened to kick me out. So anyway, the video is really dark as there weren’t many lights on and the Iphone camera doesn’t seem to do all that great in low-light situations, although it’s not what you see, but what you hear in this case. I’ll get the video up as soon as I can.

8:30 AM – I think I’m gonna be right about her keeping me up all day. She just came down and asked me if I was hearing that. She was pointing in the direction of the treadmill. I asked her “Hearing what?” She said it was some kind of engine noise and asked if I was feeling better. I let her know “I’m feeling fine…. Now go to bed.” She started back up the stairs and then said, “He’s still doing it!” Me, a little louder and firmer: “GO TO BED.” Yeah, I know, it’s day time, but the craziness really seems to come out when she hasn’t been sleeping, so I’m hoping she’ll sleep today and leave me alone.

10:55 AM – Now Mom is having a “Heart Attack.” I’ve tried to tell her that her heart is in better shape than mine and that she’s been up all freaking night and hasn’t been eating or drinking anything. I tried to give her an Ensure, she got pissed at me and threw it on the floor making a mess everywhere. Fine. She can clean up the mess. I’m going to end up having to call in to work tonight because of her shit. There’s no way I can make it all night without any sleep. Btw, I ended up going out and cleaning up the mess before it destroyed the wood floor and taking her blood pressure. It was a bit high, but she hadn’t taken her meds yet today and she was crying and stressed at the time, so nothing unusual. Her pulse looked normal as well. While doing that, she was out there calling for Jerry Feester. His name used to be Fessler, then changed to Feesler and now it’s Feester, so I don’t believe it’s a real person, or it’s someone from her long ago past that she’s changed to fit into her life now somehow. I just got a “He’s my best friend. I used to tend bar with him. He’s the Chief Of Police in Ligonier (The Chief is Bryan K. Shearer according to Ligonier’s website.)

12:15 PM – She seems to be just fine now. I got her to take her meds and helped her fix a bowl of cereal. While doing that, she asked me, “You bar tend here, too?” I just told her that we’re at home. She looked down at the counter and said, “Oh, yeah.” She’s now eating her cereal and talking to invisible people again.

12:50 PM – I’ve been trying to fall asleep, but haven’t been able to because Mom has been carrying on a conversation out in the kitchen. I finally got up and went out and suggested that she go upstairs where it’s warm. She again asked me if I bar tended here, too. I reminded her that we are home and again suggested that she go upstairs where it’s warm and maybe take a nap. I had to guide her to where the stairs where as it didn’t seem she recognized where she was. Once she seen the stairs, she had an Ahh moment and went on up. Maybe I’ll get a couple of hours of sleep. It may not be a good idea to go to work anyway. We shall see I guess.

2:15 PM – I had dozed off for a bit and woke up to Mom leaning over my coffee table. She was rubbing her finger next to a package of shoe laces I had on there and said something about she had something like that before but it’s too cold for her and that I could keep it. Then this really off the wall comment about “You can’t touch me here though.” She was pointing at her crotch. Sorry, threw up a bit in my mouth. Anyway, I told her that maybe she should go upstairs and take a nap. She didn’t say anything, turned around and went up.

5:40 PM – Things have been quiet. I dozed off for about an hour, then my alarm clock woke me up at 5:00. I dozed back off until now and gave up and let my boss know I wasn’t going to make it in tonight. At one time, when I was a lot younger, I could have made it all night on an hour or so of sleep if I had to.

4:10 AM – Mom came down to use the bathroom and when she went back upstairs, she slammed both upstairs doors, hard! I have no idea what that was all about, but my smart ass went upstairs and slammed a door, too. Maybe she seen the dishes that I had in the sink and she thought that I left them for her (I didn’t, I’m still awake and they are soaking.) Who knows what goes on in that head of hers.

11:30 PM – I was taking a nap and Mom just came downstairs and started unplugging things. I asked her what she was doing and she said, “It’s getting too loud up there!” What are you talking about?!? She says “You can’t hear it?” I reply that it’s quiet and start plugging stuff back in. I run upstairs to see what the hell she’s talking about and she says “It’s getting over-used.” I asked what was getting overused and she told me the Kirby. I waved her downstairs and grabbed the Kirby and showed her it was unplugged. She said, “I’m not going to argue with you. All I know is everybody up there was grabbing their ears because the Kirby is so loud.” Everybody??? I asked who “everybody” was and she again said, “everybody that’s up there.” I told her that there was no one upstairs and showed her again that the Kirby is not plugged in. By this time I’m getting pissed because she’s doing the “I don’t wanna argue” bullshit again, so I once again tell her that there is nothing running down here and she went back upstairs. BTW, the only thing that’s making any noise down here is the humidifier. I’ve got the fan turned on 2 trying to keep up with the dryness in the air, but even with that, she’d only be able to hear it if her head was down next to it.

8:30 AM – I had to wake Mom up this morning to get her in the shower and eat breakfast for a Doctor’s appointment. She’s just getting her blood pressure checked and I need to ask about results of a Thyroid blood test they did last week. This week, I actually managed to get her in the shower! It only took about 15 minutes this week with only 2 protests. Once was after I woke her up. She said that she had just washed up. I explained that washing up doesn’t wash her hair and that’s what really needs it. She came down stairs a little later and walked into the bathroom, then came back and said that it was cold in there. I turned up the heat from 72 to 80 so it would be warm enough for her (as I sit with just shorts on trying to stay cool.. lol.) She got in the shower a few minutes later. Nothing odd to this post today, just a surprise that it went well. Now I just have to get her to eat. She hasn’t been doing a lot of that lately.

8:30 PM – I forgot to post earlier that her blood pressure looked good and the thyroid numbers were back to normal, so no medication needed for either.

About 6:00 PM, I had her soup set out on the counter so that all she had to do was pour it into her bowl and heat it up. Seems to be the only way she remembers to eat. I don’t think she was really happy about it when she came down and seen it because she’s been whispering since then, but at least she fixed it and ate. I can’t hear anything she’s saying, but I keep hearing her whispered S’s. She just came downstairs whispering. Anyway, hopefully that’s all for today.

Oh, I almost forgot. While at the Doctor’s office, I spoke to the nurse about the records they have available for Mom’s memory problems. She said that she was able to go back as far as 2012 to find mention from the Doctor that was there at the time about her forgetfulness and that I was living with her helping her out. That’s great news in that they have that on record so that when the time comes that Mom needs to go to the nursing home, we will have record of my care for more than 2 years for Medicaid. With that in hand, they will not be able to take the house from me by forcing the sale of it. I just have to get a Power of Attorney so that I can get that from the Doctor’s office, which I will do once I see the Attorney for the Deed to the house, hopefully soon. I’m just waiting on a call from her letting me know she’s got a copy of it from the county.

1:45 PM – Mom finally came downstairs and walked into the kitchen. Then she walked back out here with a confused look on her face and asked me, “do you hear that?” I asked her several times what I was supposed to be hearing and she replied, “You don’t hear 9-1-1?” Uhhhhhhhh, no. *shrug*

4:40 PM – Things have been really quiet today. At around 2:30 this afternoon, I went up to check on Mom because it appeared that she hadn’t been downstairs all day. She was laying in bed covered up, but awake. I got her to get up so she could take her meds for the day and eat something. She came down and took her meds, went to the bathroom and started going back upstairs. I stopped her and told her to eat something and ended up just suggesting a bowl of cereal for now. After she finished eating, she asked me what we were going to get at the Doctor’s office. I let her know that we didn’t have an appointment today, so she went upstairs. About 10 minutes later, she came back down asking when we were supposed to go to the Doctor’s Office. She went back upstairs after I let her know there was no appointment today. 15-20 minutes later, she was back down for the same thing. “When are we supposed to be at the Doctor’s?” I once again let her know that there was no appointment today, so she went to the bathroom and went back upstairs where she’s been quiet as of the time of this writing. I suspect she’ll be up and down the stairs tonight until she realizes I’m not home (I’ve got to work tonight.)

1:10 PM – I heard Mom talking in the kitchen and peeked my head around the corner to listen in and seen her sitting in her chair with her coat and boots on. So I stood in the front room trying to hear a conversation Mom was having with an invisible person. It was a conversation because she was hearing answers from the invisible person and answering questions! It’s been really hard to hear too much because she’d been speaking pretty quietly and there was a lot of traffic going by the house at the time, but it seemed to be focused on me much of the time. I heard; “He’s my oldest son and he calls himself Boss Man.” I don’t, by the way. I also heard hits like: “He calls himself Shannon Geiger.” “I don’t know who he is, but he needs to be sharing the bills or get out.” “That’s where I need to you look into it…. OK….. Oh My God….. Then maybe you can tell him he needs to get out.” And many other such comments.

When I finally stepped into the kitchen, I asked her who she was talking to and she said she didn’t know. So I mentioned that it sounded like she was having a conversation with someone. Then she asked me if I was her first born. I replied that yes, and I have my birth certificate to prove it. So she repeated her question and this time I replied that yes, I have been for the last 51 years. She finally said thank you and seemed satisfied. So I got her to get her coat and boots off and take her meds and eat something. As of right now, she’s out there quietly eating some soup.

10:02 PM – That was odd. Mom started to come downstairs and I heard her at the top of the stairs say: “Jerry Feesler. OK.” Then she turned around and went back in the room. Now, at 10:05, she started down again and said: “My black slippers keep coming up missing, so I have to use these instead.” Now, out in the kitchen, she’s talking to someone again. I heard my name, so she may be telling whoever she thinks she’s talking to who was out in the living room. She’s in the bathroom now, so I can’t tell if she’s still carrying on a conversation. 10:10 PM – She came out of the bathroom talking, so she evidently was still talking to whoever. She’s now standing in the kitchen naming off all us boys’ names and it sounded like she said “Shannon is the one living with us.” A little bit later I heard her say: “That’s between you and Shannon. Please!” She would turn around and start leaving the kitchen, then turn back around like she heard someone say something and it went on like this for a little bit (10:16). When she came back through the living room, I asked her who she was talking to and she didn’t know, but apparently, he had a “growly voice. Not nasty, but growly.” Damn it, I need to remember to grab my phone and start getting video of this stuff! I’ve been so focused on trying to hear what she’s saying that I don’t even think of it until afterwards. I’ve got my phone in front of me now in case she comes back down.

8:45 AM – As predicted, it’s been a challenge getting Mom up and trying to get her to shower and eat some breakfast. I went up to wake her up at about 8:30. She’s been downstairs 3 times so far. The first time, she asked what time her Doctor’s appointment was. I told her it was at 10 AM. She says, “Oh, I can sleep a little longer then.” No mom, shower and breakfast. The second time was a repeat of the first time. The THIRD time, she asked, “Is there any chance there would be pythons in the basement?” Where did that come from??? No Mom. No pythons. Shower and breakfast. “So I’ve got time to take a nap?” *face palm* I told her again; “Shower and breakfast. You’ve got a little more than an hour. I don’t want to have to race around getting you to the Doctor’s Office.” She asks, “Is there any way we can get a battery for my watch while we’re out?” I replied, “Yes. Now shower and breakfast.” She finally went upstairs, hopefully to get clothes and not take a nap…

9:00 AM – Well, she wasn’t napping, but she was just sitting on the bed. I went up there to check and she asked, “Are there pythons in the basement?” No. Where do you get that? “Someone is trying to get through to me and tell me not to go down in the basement.” So don’t go down in the basement. The shower isn’t in the basement. Go get your shower. Look out M Night Shyamalan, Mom sees dead people, too!

9:35 AM – I give up on trying to get her in the shower. No time now. When she finally got down here a few minutes ago, she came back out of the bathroom started going back upstairs with a confused look on her face. When I asked her what was going on, she said: “Someone told me I don’t have an appointment today.” *nuclear face palm* So I told her, “Yes Mom, you still have an appointment today, but it’s pointless to try to get you in the shower as there won’t be enough time. Just go up and get ready to go.” So she says, “I’m sorry I don’t have the brain that you do.” *crickets*

10:00 AM – I was in the kitchen making a cup of coffee when I heard both upstairs doors slam. Oh great. When she finally made it downstairs, I had just made a noise and Mom said “For God’s sake!” I turned around and seen that she was holding her head. So I got her a couple of aspirin and told her to hold out her hand. So she of course turned away and said “I don’t wanna hear it!” *Nuclear eye-roll* I went ahead and risked the crazy-lady-swing-state and grabbed her hand and turned it over and dropped the aspirin in her hand. As first, I though she was going to start swinging, but she settled down once she realized what she had in her hand. I tried to tell her “If you’d just listen…” but of course, she was busy being belligerent and saying “I don’t want to talk to you.” So I let her know that “That’s fine. I don’t want to talk to you either.” If she’s going to be like that, nope, don’t want to talk to her at all.

It should be a blast trying to get her around for her doctor’s appointment tomorrow at 10:00 AM. I can’t wait. *sigh*