6.
Mom’s ability to feed herself slowly declined, and it got to the stage where she had to get spoon-fed. Her appetite was not lost, though, and she still ate a healthy plate of food at each meal. By this stage, Mom was also wearing adult nappies. Although she would often say, she needed to go to the toilet she had no control over her bladder or bowel movements anymore. She was not even aware that she was wearing a nappy.
Every time I walked in and saw my mom, I would always face her directly and say hello, to which her eyes would sparkle and brighten, and I would get the loveliest smile. During lunch one day I noticed her words slur and the side of her mouth seemed to droop downward. Immediately the thought that she was possibly having a stroke entered my head, and I quickly went downstairs to the reception and asked if I could speak to the manager. At the time, I hadn't been able to locate the sister upstairs. As soon as I spoke to the receptionist I burst into tears and was annoyed at myself for doing so as those tears would not help anyone. Nonetheless, there they were in full flow, and a doctor was arranged to see Mom later that day.
At four in the afternoon, the doctor arrived, and it could not be determined if she had suffered a stroke or not. The following day Mom was doing much better, but the doctor wanted a neurologist to have a look at her. The earliest appointment for her was the following Wednesday. Up until that day Mom had been fine, never showing any signs of slurring or that any form of imbalance or illness loomed.
On the Wednesday morning that she was due to see the specialist the sister phoned me to say that Mom was not waking up. She had fallen into a semi-coma state, and I should get to the home as soon as possible. I did. When I arrived in Mom’s bedroom, she was lying in her bed sound asleep. Nothing would wake her. I still thought it was best to get her to the specialist. A nurse accompanied my daughter and me, to help with getting Mom in and out of the wheelchair. It was very difficult with her being in the state that she was.
The specialist took one look at her and immediately sent her to the ICU of the hospital. She got diagnosed with pneumonia. A horrible side effect to Mom’s Alzheimer’s was that whenever she got a simple cold or the like, her brain shut down. I had seen this on many occasions in other people. Now with pneumonia, it shut down almost completely.
My sister was fortunately down on business for the week in Cape Town and extended her stay until Mom was safe again. Mom spent, at least, three days in a comatose state and another week or so in the general ward before being discharged. Even when she was in the general ward, she slept a lot, far more than what was deemed normal. Her vitals were all good and normal, and yet all she wanted to do was sleep. To see Mom lying in bed totally unresponsive was just about all my nerves were able to handle. If ever I felt completely and utterly hopeless it was then.
When she returned to the home, she was moved to the frail care section of Flamingo. Here she remained in bed as an invalid for a few weeks. Slowly she became more alert and was once again speaking without a slur and able to eat solid foods. Only when the sister and doctors were a hundred percent happy with her recovery was Mom moved out of the frail care and back to her old bed. What a relief it was to visit that day and find her sitting in the dining room once more, and to see her eyes light up and melt my heart when she gave me the widest of smiles that I had not seen in almost a month.