My granddaughter came for a visit last week. She is just
absolutely adorable.
I spoil her rotten
and then send her home.
So,
how are your Children doing?
They're well enough.
But Ryan, my youngest,
he comes over and then later on I can't find my money and ATM card.
I think he's taking them from me.
I can't believe he would do that.
Well, I saw it with my own eyes.
Oh, Rose. Are you sure?
I know he's had problems in the past but he seems to be doing much better now.
I think he just wants to help you.
They always wanna help me,
but I don't need any help.
Hello, Ryan. Hey Mrs Brooks. I
brought some groceries.
You know,
he takes my ATM card out of my purse.
Mom. No one's stealing from you.
Well, where's my purse? Then?
I wanna count my money.
Did,
did you lose your purse again? Mom?
No,
don't worry about your purse. It'll turn up
right now. You need to go get ready because Jack and Amy are coming over for dinner.
How you feeling, mom?
I'm fine.
What's this all about?
We think maybe it's time for you. To see a doctor.
Why
I feel fine. It's just that we're starting to notice some things.
I don't need to see a doctor.
Mom
who put this empty pot in the fridge.
Not me.
Maybe it was dad.
I haven't seen him since this morning.
Mom. Dad's not here.
He passed away.
What?
Why didn't you tell me?
When did he?
Dad passed three months ago?
Nobody told me,
nobody tells me anything.
I was married to your father for 50 years. Mom.
We were all there at the funeral, don't you start?
You remembered if I was there
and I want my ATM.
What are you doing with my money?
Hey, Amy,
you're the only one I can count on.
But you Ryan, I know you're stealing from me and Jack. You, you never come around
just here earlier this week.
No,
no.
How's mom?
She's in bed now.
I think she's getting worse.
We really need to do something.
Ryan. You need to be more careful around her.
She thinks you're stealing money from her. I am being careful.
She's always accusing me of something.
It's kind of hard to prove what you haven't done. Can you really blame mom after all?
You've put her through? That was a long time ago. Hey, guys, let's get back to mom.
Ok?
I talked to Adult Protective Services and they referred me to a doctor Doyle.
She's a behavioral health specialist and she makes house calls.
So I'll see if we can arrange a meeting with her.
So the first thing you need to do is get her in for a medical evaluation.
Not wait. Thank you.
That way we can eliminate the possibility
of something else causing these symptoms.
We'll work on that, but she is definitely not interested in going to the doctor.
Yeah, I understand.
Typically with dementia patients there's a fair amount of denial and even fear.
Is that what you think? This is,
it is beginning to look that way.
I've definitely heard of it, but I'm not quite sure. I understand what it is.
Dementia is a general term used for a group
of symptoms caused by other diseases such as Alzheimer's.
What else can you tell me about your mother's symptoms?
She used to be a great cook, but we haven't seen her make anything in years.
Mom also accuses us of stealing from her.
Wonder where mom got that idea from
when,
when is eight years clean and sober going to
be enough to make you forget about the past.
This is about mom. Now
I move
on. It's about time. You did too.
I need some air
try and
I'm sorry about that.
We're all just really worried about our mom. It's, it's all right.
I have to tell you that what you're going through is
typical of what happens to the loved ones of dementia patients.
Uh, our
father also passed away about three months ago
and mom seems to even forget about that.
And when we tell her she starts to mourn as if she just
learned about it and gets mad at us for not telling her.
It's really upsetting to her and us.
Yes, we call that a catastrophic event.
It's your job at all costs to avoid them.
Try to keep your mother calm
next time,
try redirecting her attention elsewhere and don't argue with her about the facts.
I don't want to scare you, but sooner or later, she'll need outside assistance.
And if it comes to it,
she'll need to be admitted to an assisted living facility.
Mom's ok.
The police found her in the bushes.
There were bad people in the house.
According to our records,
we've been called to this residence 12 times during the past eight months.
At this point. I've got to ask
what's your family gonna do about your mother?
We were hoping that she could live on her own for as long as possible.
We've been trying to get help but everyone we talked to refers us to somebody else
and then we end up back where we started.
That's because ultimately it's your responsibility.
Isn't there something the police can do to help?
No, not really because she's got rights.
She's not a danger to herself or anyone right now.
The only other choice I can see is for your
family to commit her to an assisted living facility.
Sorry, we can't do more.
Hey, folks. Have a good night.
I think that's gonna have to be it for now. We can't take everything.
It just
so many memories here. Come on, guys don't talk like that.
It is hard enough as it is.
Ok.
You were. Right. Right.
Eight years. Clean sober.
Gotta be in that to at least give the guy a benefit of the doubt.
I'm sorry for what I said the other day.
Truth be told,
proud of you.
I'm just too stupid to say it.
I appreciate it, man.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Not that stupid,
pretty smart guy. I know.
Told me to move on,
take the song and give it to you.
Smart dude.
Well, come on now. I
mean, come on, wait,
what are we doing here?
This will be a new home. Um
You'll live with me mom
and when I'm out at work, I'll have someone come check in on you. Ok.
Well, what about dad? Does he know where I am?
Don't worry about dad. Mom. I'm sure he'll be by later at home.
Are you hungry? Mom? Yes,
I haven't had anything to eat since your dad cooked me breakfast. I know
dad takes good care of you. Yeah,
my
good.
So.