Just wondering if any of you have had experience with the patient getting out-and-about; shopping, etc.
My Mom was always a much bigger shopper than me. She could shop all day, long after I wanted to go home. I'm the home-body, hermit type.
So, I've made a point of buying groceries on one day and visiting WalMart on another. Just so she still gets out of the house on 2 separate days.
This morning was our Walmart day. We hadn't been in the store long but had made our way to the back of the store. Mom started crying. Said, she shouldn't have come, she should have stayed in the car. She looked just awful.
I asked if she was hurting anywhere. She said "no." But her ankles didn't want to move anymore. No matter how I coaxed her, she would not walk back to the front of the store so we could leave. She just stood still and cried. Finally, a clerk walked by, saw Mom crying and the predicament I was in. She went to the front of the store and got one of the electric carts.
I didn't think we'd ever be able to tell Mom how to operate it, but she did fine. (Probably thought she finally had her car back!)
When we got to the front of the store, she walked back to the car as though nothing had happened. By the time we reached the car, she didn't remember it had happened at all.
My question is: When do you stop taking them places. Do they finally tell you they don't want to go?
This was just a puzzle to me but makes me cautious about going again. What if the store didn't have an electric cart?
You just can never know what's next! What a predicament you and your mother were in, for sure.
It may be a today only thing, but it may be the unwelcome herald of a new decline. Your mother's behavior reminds me of how a tired little child acts. Can't walk, won't walk, and can only cry. Perhaps, WalMart is just too large now. Maybe your mother would do better in a smaller store. Maybe she no longer delights in shopping. My mother got to that point. She'd trail along with a total lack of interest. The items on the shelf meant nothing. The year before, she went through her gaudy phase and bought almost everything that sparkled. She stand before a sparkling object as if mesmerized, leave and return to it, until I said for her to buy it. She'd act like a child granted her wish.
Watch for other indictaions - I hope it's not a downward trend.
Well, Walmart is very intimidating for me, one reason I avoid it as much as possible. My FIL is easily overwhelmed when he is taken outside his AD lockdown unit. He asks to be taken out, but it seems to make him more anxious when he returns, as if all the strange stimuli overwhelm him. The nursing home has asked us not to take him outside the unit at this time because it upsets him and they say a set routine is more comforting for him. I don't know what stage of AD your mother is experiencing, but, perhaps trips to smaller, quieter places would be better at this time.
Yes, I agree - too much stimulation causes the inner confusion to become so intense that it can be paralyzing. Maybe she has no interest in shopping any more.
OR, maybe she had a leg cramp? My Mom used to stop after a few steps when walking, always making up some excuse "OH look at the lovely tulips" until her leg cramp subsided, then walked a few more steps. Then stopped to adsmire a car, a cat, or start a conversation with a stranger. Mom never admitted her legs were a problem. At home at night she got leg cramps a lot, until someone recommended drinking tonic water at bedtime (quinine) which virtually got rid of all night cramps ...
If it was 'only' that, she may not be declining after all.
I do hope that it is just the size of Walmart. It intimidates me during busy shopping hours! I always go early in the morning when there are fewer shoppers.
Oh Barbra......that is so funny. That is exactly how my mom has been for months. The more glitter and fur and guady something is...the more she likes it. And she's delighted if I allow her to buy it. Like a kid wanting a Barbie.
She does have arthritis in her left knee, but it never interrupted shopping before. I'm gonna make a stickie note about that tonic water. Interesting to know.
There are dollar stores on every corner around here. I think I'll try one of those next week. A lot shorter walk, and less stimulation. If she doesn't seem interested, then I'll know she may not be interested in shopping at all anymore.
She use to love grocery shopping, but last week she wanted to stay with my hubby instead of going with me. I didn't think much about it at the time.
I have noticed that she does much better during the week. We have a schedule, do the same thing day after day. She seems a little confused on the weekends when we eat at all hours, watch football instead of Bob Barker. I can just tell, she's slightly agitated......or confused.
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