Sleeping and waking up enriched

 

　When my mother was an elementary student, one early morning, my grandmother waked her up roughly by opening a window. There were many factory workers outside. They were on their way to work. In those days, Japanese factories opened their business early.

 My grandmother said, “They had to wake up really early in the morning to work. I am a teacher. I have woken up now. I can be a late riser because I studied very hard when I was young. My dear daughter, you need to study very hard. If you don’t, you have to wake up early every day in the future.”

 I don’t know whether my grandmother’s advice worked. My mother graduated at a prestigious university. I suspect that my mother studied very hard because she wanted to be a late riser. I think this is not a good reason to study.

 My father worked for a newspaper company. He started work in the middle of the night and came home early morning. Then he slept during daytime. When he reached retirement age, he started a new lifestyle: waking up early in the morning. He used to go to bed at 8:00 p.m. and wake up at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. He would walk to the park and watch the sunrise every day. This lifestyle might be his dream for a long time. Waking up early in the morning could be a rich experience.

 I lived in our house with my mother who had Alzheimer’s disease. An Alzheimer’s patient often makes troubles even in the dead of the night. Having good sleep was difficult for me in those days. I finished graduate school. If my grandmother’s advice were true, I might have been a super late riser. But her advice was not true. Sleeping and educational background are not related.

 Being a late riser could be a rich experience. Being an early riser could also be a rich experience. Both of them are a deeply enriching experience.

 I think the best sleeping habit might be like this: going to bed when you feel sleepy, not setting any alarm, no one disturbing your sleep, not even caring if it is day or night. You get up when you naturally wake up. Your natural sleeping cycle depends on your mental and physical condition.

 This must be a great lifestyle. I wish I have this lifestyle someday.

Picture by BlueRingMedia

 

Cellphone

 

 

When my mother had Alzheimer’s disease, she lost the ability to use a cellphone.

 After about five years, I decided to let her have a cellphone again. I wanted to avoid missing her.

 She always had her favorite bag when she went out. I tied a cellphone to the bag. I provided some instructions with the cellphone. I covered most of the push buttons with packing tape. She could see and make a few speed dials. I wrote my name on one of the speed-dial buttons.

 We trained every day. I would say, “Please call to Shu.” Then I would make her hold the phone and push the button. Then we would talk for a while. She also trained to receive calls from me. I called her up from the next room. She practiced getting the phone.

 It is said that learning something new is difficult for an Alzheimer’s patient. But finally my mother learned how to use the cellphone. Even if she got lost, she could contact me.

 Nevertheless, these efforts were for nothing. She never used the phone when she was alone. Thanks to the care manager, helpers, day service crews, my father, my wife, and of course herself, we always knew where she was.

 I thought of an invention: a cellphone specialized for Alzheimer’s patients with just a few speed-dial buttons. On the buttons, there are names and pictures. An Alzheimer’s patient may find it easy to use but would sometimes need help. In most cases, not many caregivers can really help the patient. That cellphone could help connect the patient to caregivers.

Picture by Purin

Talking to a Mirror

 

 

 A person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, at some point, loses their understanding of what a mirror is. Some of them would start talking to it.

 My mother had this symptom. She talked to a mirror.

 One day, after making dinner, I told her, “Please come here.”

My mother spoke to the mirror. “He says, ‘Please come here.’”

Then she was waiting for her reflection to come out of the mirror. She wanted to eat dinner with the person on the other side. She was very kind to her reflection.

 I heard it is not a common symptom, and some patients don’t show it.

 In my mother’s case, she always enjoyed talking to a mirror. It was not a problem. The mirror took care of her, and I could rest for a while. But in some cases, the patient might start a fight with the mirror. The mirror could break, and the patient could get injured. It could be a problem.

 I guess the most famous person who talked to a mirror could be the mother-in-law of Snow White. I suspect she was an Alzheimer’s patient.

 The magic looking-glass started to be partial to Snow White. The mother-in-law planned to kill Snow White.

 I wish the mother-in-law fought with the mirror and broke it. She might get injured. But it could be the best happy ending.

Picture by yopinco

Hallucination

 

             My grand uncle was a rather odd person. He was the husband of my grand aunt, who had Alzheimer’s disease and whom I took care of. His hobby was making model airplanes. Sometimes he made the airplanes fly on the riverside. He ran a camera shop, but he was not interested in selling cameras. He was interested in modifying cameras. He enjoyed taking unique pictures.

              When I was a child, he told me many jokes. His jokes were different from those of other adults. He never said any childish jokes, even to children. His jokes always surprised me. He and I were not related by blood, but if someone asked me, “Who do you most resemble among your relatives?” the answer would be him.

              He passed away when he was eighty-four years old. He needed to be in and out of the hospital repeatedly in those days. I lived away from him. I repeatedly visited the hospital when I received a message: “He is hovering between life and death now.”

              One day, when I visited his hospital, he told me a strange story: “When I gained consciousness, I had a hallucination.”

              I worried about him, but my uncle looked like he had enjoyed that.

              “It really amused me. It was almost like watching a movie for free.” He started to complain about the nurses and the doctors. “When I described the hallucination to the doctor, the nurse gave me a shot. Then my hallucination was gone. They did such an unnecessary thing!”

              I didn’t know how to reply to him.

              He continued, “Shu, can you keep it a secret?”

              I answered yes because he was hovering between life and death.

              He said, “Actually, I can see the hallucination a little bit, even now.” He pointed at the corner of the sickroom. “There is a railway platform.”

              I went out of the sickroom. I started to worry. Should I report to the doctor about the hallucination? If I did, the doctor would give him more shots. If he was enjoying that, should I let him experience the hallucination? Otherwise, for my grand uncle to receive proper medical treatment, should I leak the secret? Ultimately, I didn’t talk to anyone about that.

              A few weeks later, he left the hospital. He recovered. I didn’t know that he was still experiencing the hallucination after he had left the hospital.               A few years later, he passed away. I talked about his hallucination with my other relatives on the way to the crematory. I kept his secret until his death.

              I imagine that when we are hovering between life and death, we can experience wonderful hallucinations. It might be nice. It could be a preview of heaven.

Picture by freehand

Hunter

 

             When I was a student, many universities built campuses in the suburbs. I entered one of these universities.

              One day I took a walk outside of the university. I met two hunters. Each of them had a hunting dog and a hunting gun. That was the first time I had met a hunter. I said hello.

              One of the hunters gladly told me, “Today the pheasant hunting season opened.”

              I continued to walk for a while. I found a signboard that said, “Dear hunters, don’t open fire around here.” That might have been a great location for a university.

              Thirty years have passed now. I visited the university last year. I was surprised by the change of surroundings. There were many high-rise buildings. There used to be fields. I can’t meet hunters here anymore.

Picture by Igor Sapozhkov

Repeatedly Be Praised

 

              In 2007, my mother and my grand aunt were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the same time. I lived with my mother. My grand aunt lived alone at her house, one hour and a half away from my house by train.  I took care of my mother at home. I also went to my grand aunt’s house to take care of her once a week.

              In the first stage of Alzheimer’s, a patient tends to tell the same story many times. My grand aunt didn’t have that symptom, but my mother did. I was tired of listening to my mother’s endless, repeating stories. She easily forgot that the same story had already been told many times to me.

              In those days, my grand aunt still had the ability to make a phone call to my house. After I visited her house, she called my mother and said thanks. She would call my mother many times. My mother also had Alzheimer’s disease, so she would forget that she had already received the call from my grand aunt. There might be endless phone calling. When I came home, my mother told me that my grand aunt called and said thanks to me.

              After a while, my mother started to say the same thing. She praised me again and again. I was tired of her repeating stories, but listening to her compliments for me repeatedly was not so bad.

              Taking care of Alzheimer’s patients is hard work, but most caregivers don’t have the opportunity to be praised often. Actually, I was repeatedly praised by my mother for a short time, but I should be allowed to enjoy this side benefit for a while.

Picture by studiolaut

Watch

 

              One day, when I was reading posts on Twitter, I found a comment that said, “When I became a member of society, my senior gave me . . . advice: ‘You should wear an expensive watch. It will give you many advantages.’ Then I spent all my money and bought an expensive watch. But it didn’t [give] me any advantage after all.”

              I think the senior didn’t have any malice. In the past, people evaluated others depending on their watches because only expensive watches were considered to be accurate. When I was a child, my first housework chore was setting the clocks according to the time displayed on the TV. In those days, before news programs started, they showed a clock and informed us of the accurate time. All our clocks were spring-wound clocks.

              At that time, only expensive watches showed accurate time. Wearing an expensive watch created appeal. “I am very careful about time management.” That could give the person much advantage. Cheap watches easily became too fast or too slow. However, there were drastic improvements in the watch industry. Even cheaper watches became accurate. The meaning of wearing an expensive watch changed.

              When I was a student, my senior gave me advice: “You should wear expensive shoes. You should have an expensive bag.” Is this advice valuable even now? Nowadays, even cheap bags and cheap shoes are not so bad.

              I must be careful about giving advice to young people. My advice could be outdated. First of all, most young people don’t wear watches now. If I could give advice to young people, it would be this: “Evaluating people depending on their props is not so effective. People are more complex than that.”

Picture by SIF