Thursday, August 16, 2007

deciphering


life as a new parent can be very difficult. you have to learn how to distinquish different cries; are they hungry, wet, tired, uncomfortable?

caring for someone with advanced AD can be very much the same. sometimes i think it is even more difficult. with a newborn, they will eventually grow to be able to verbalize and tell you what's wrong. with AD, this will never happen, they will only become worse.

russ has had days like that. for him, he does not cry but rather has different breathing patterns. sometimes he pants like lamaze classes - that is usually an easy one as that is reserved for needing to have a BM. most other times he will either breath deep and slow or shallow and faster. either of those two are the more difficult to decipher.

at those times his verbal ability is either non-existent or he just babbles. it is then the deciphering really begins. is it physical - is he in pain, wet, hungry, or tired? might he be dehydrated or have an infection? is it environmental - is he bored or overstimulated, is it too noisy, too dark, too hot or cold, or too unfamiliar? or then again is it just the AD rearing up it ugly head?

russ has had one of these days this afternoon and evening. he even took a fall on the floor from his commode. i turned my back for literally 2 seconds and down he went. fortunately he only sustained an abraison on his upper arm. i have tried to make sure his physical needs have been met and also tried looking at the environmental ones. even the playing of music hasn't helped much. i'm hoping he's just overly tired and in the morning he will awaken to a new and better day.

that or that my deciphering skills will be sharper tomorrow!

3 comments:

Lori1955 said...

Well when you decipher it please send the code to me. Helen has been going from whimpering to lip smacking to saying num num num. I don't have a clue so I will be waiting for you to figure out this AD language and pass it on to me.

~Betsy said...

Yikes, Nancy. That's a tough one. The different breathing patterns would be so difficult to figure out.

My problem is that my mom refuses to tell me what, if anything, is wrong. I try to study her face for signs. Some days I guess right. Most times I don't.

Hang in there.

Unknown said...

That's a really good and insightful post.

It is amazing how fast they can fall or do something else for that matter. I have been within inches of dad before and couldn't prevent him from falling. It is unbelievable.