Tag: lonelyness

Taking time to stand still.

Today I would like to tell you about a very big kindness paid to me recently. Having dementia, sometimes makes you very lonely. There is always the anxiety meeting new people. Sometimes you get confused when people talk too fast…. believe me it sounds like blah blah blah. Sometimes you lose the conversation not even halfway in.

I went with a friend on a trip, not too far, only about an hour and a half drive to Jeffreys. I love my friend, she is the best ever. Before we went on the trip, we had to spend three hours in the bank, to take my signing rights off of the NPO’S financial stuff. I served 4 years as the Chairperson. That three hours, was an ordeal for me. This and that and twelve other things and me feeling like a fart in a bag of nails…. excuse the expression, but it was what it was.

When we got there, we had a lovely lunch and when we started walking…. her walking fast like Castor Semenya and me walking with my crutch far behind. Then I told her, I decided against buying panties and time is running out, so I sat myself down on a bench in the mall.

It was a bit lonely but there I was. Next moment this stranger stood in front of me. A lovely young man, nicely dressed and soft voiced. “Good day auntie, may I ask why you walk with a crutch?” I told him the left knee is not so nice anymore and he there and then sat down next to me, asking if he can pray for my knee. I said yes. So he subsequently prayed for my knee. We started talking about when we met Jesus Christ and just have a nice chat about my favorite topic…. Jesus. Then he left with me giving him a hug.

Now unfortunately I’m not jumping around with a knee all fixed and all, it is not that I did not believe or something or that God did not fix my knee. But that day, that young man left his house with a purpose and just came to stand still by a scared old lady, whose head is more on crutches than her knee. It touched my heart. I could feel the love and company of God that day as a special treat. Don’t misunderstand me, God is always with me, but just that gesture, that intent to be kind, made my whole day.

So if you are looking for something nice to do, get up, get dressed and go see if there is some old lady that you can just go and stop by and talk too. Anything will do, even just introducing yourself and sitting there and if there is conversation, do it. It will make you feel good as well.

Much love and kindness

Saro (Elmarie)

I don’t want it!

I don’t want the strokes… I don’t want the dementia!!!!! It makes me miserable. Some days I feel courageous and other days I feel like this. I feel stupid, incompetent and useless. If my family reads or hears this, they will assure me that it is not the case, but it is how I feel.

The Bipolar does not help either. It is something that has been haunting me for practically all my life. Suicide attempts, horrible highs and then the terrible downs, where all is black with no hope. There is also the aggression. That is the worst of all. It makes me a monster. It harms me and my family equally and sometimes I think it harms me most because of the guild and sorrow.

I am on so much medication that if I take any more, I will be a slobbering fool. The medication is a mood stabilizer and the Dopaquel takes care of the aggression and insomnia. Obviously there is nothing to be done on the dementia medication wise. They gave me Memantine for 6 months, to see if it keeps the decline less, but I don’t see any and have stopped taking it. The other medication I take because it keeps me alive.

Then there is the anxiety and epilepsy…. I think I cover almost all the bases on what can go wrong in the head. Thank God I am mentally and behaviorally stable and don’t have personality or something like that problems.

I just can’t stop crying today. My husband is in a sh@t mood as well and that’s not helping. I cannot handle conflict. That simply is too much for me. I feel as if I cannot do anything anymore, which is not really true, I can still wipe my own butt so to speak. I keep on putting things away and when I or everyone else starts looking for something such a huge cloud of anxiety comes over me.

I cannot say something about my husband here, because it will not be right, I do love him though, but I think he needs help as well mentally. How to address that is beyond me. My kids are a tremendous help and comfort.

All these things is not written on my face, or scars or something. It is in my fricken head. As long as I keep my mouth shut nobody will be any the wiser. I do have a speech impairment because of the strokes and the cognitive impairment is …. as I said as long as I keep my mouth shut.

But how can I shut my mouth and not talk, because with the dementia in the later stages my speech will disappear all together.

Many people think that having dementia of whatever kind you are immediately unable to walk talk or function. It is not true. You can still have a meaningful life for many years until THAT DAY comes. Yes we need assistance and the assistance will be increasingly needed. But people are not all of a sudden this monsters that does not want to shower or whatever. Yes I feel sorry for the caregivers and I am very very grateful for what they do. They dedicate their lives to take care of their loved ones. Thing is the ME does not go away. I will always be there, even if it looks like I’m just a shell. Nobody can suddenly go from somebody to a nobody. Until the day you die, you will be a somebody with a name. I am Saro or Elmarie.

All this is breaking my heart for myself, my family and everyone that have the same conditions. But life is not fair. Nowhere is there any guarantee that life will or is moonshine and roses. If someone have cancer or some other disease everyone go and visit etc. Most of the people that I speak to that have dementia said that they have lost friends and even family. So many are lonely. I am so grateful for Dementia Mentors that introduced me to friends that are the same as me. Days like this I just want to curl up and die or something like that and no dear daughters of mine that reads my blogs you don’t have to put me on suicide watch. I will most probably recover and be on my merry way again. I am not going to re read this post so please put up with the mistakes and thank you for reading/listening, it is appreciated.

Saro