Screams

At the home someone is often screaming.  To me it seems to be one of the effects of Alzheimer's disease.  Mother has developed a hypersensitivity to many things.  This reaction began early on in the disease when we first took her to the doctor.  When she had to have a blood test, she cried like a small child and turned her head screaming, "You're killing me!"  Now, I understand that many of us have this reaction to giving any amount of blood, but this was not her usual response. 

Screaming became part of the daily routine when she had to take a shower.  Neglect of personal hygiene is also an early effect of the disease, and getting Mother to shower was a struggle.  Of course being naked in front of your children is uncomfortable, and she would scream, "Don't look!  Don't look."  We got very good at scrubbing her or telling her what to wash next with our eyes fixed on a point just over her head.

As the disease progresses, she screams at any touch on some days.  That might be helping her wash her hands or changing her socks or brushing her hair.  Sometimes just trying to help her floss her teeth brings the staff to check on her as she screams bloody murder.

The fact is that as gentle as you want to be, as much as you tell her what you are going to do, as much as you know you are not hurting her, she will still scream. 

Last week as I left the home, I heard wild screams coming from the shower room.  Someone else had to be bathed, and it was their turn to scream.  It is part of the disease, and it puts me at great dis-ease.