Caught Off Guard

First I would like to say that last week's FW was a very good one! Iwas nervous going into the tx session because my pt is one with dementia due to advanced PD and all I can hear in my head as I walk to this woman's room is my instructor's voice saying, "This is a hard one, but you can do it!"...and I'm thinking "yeah right, what did I ever do to you?!" But anyway, my instructor was correct in saying this was going to be challenging but I am up for it because Ms. S is soooo sweet! So after Ms. S and I met I'm feeling much better and I need to go to the linen room for some clean linen and as I am walking down the hall with a lil' pep in my step, feeling good and deep in my thoughts of what I'm going to do with my pt another resident grabs my arm (for a little bitty woman she had quite a grip!) and stops me dead in my tracks. It startled me a bit because she was below eye level in a WC and when Idid not initially see what stopped me it freaked me out. So when I looked down and saw her she still has this dealth grip on my arm and starts puckering up her lips making a kissing sound (you all have to know by now I am seriously having a "what in the world?!?!" moment). I then try to think quick on my feet and I just tell myself to say something so sounding like the biggest dork I'm like "Hello Ma'am!" and she says in a low muffling voice "very pretty" and puckers up again (and yes she still has my arm)! So I kinda pry her hands off of my arm and ask her how she is doing today but all she keeps doing is puckering up and saying "kiss kiss". I'm still a little thrown off, but I do manage to say "No real kisses, but I will blow you one and you catch it"..so I did and that seemed to satisfy her because she "catches" it, smiles and then turned away. I was then moving like a speed demon down that hallway thinking "that was some crazy stuff!" But as I thought more about it later on that was not too crazy and I probably will be met with that type of behavior more often. So I need to learn how to stay calm and not appear like a dear caught in the headlights. That is something I know I have to improve on because believe me when I tell you that really threw for a loop! I found this poem about dementia patients, I think it is beautiful (the last paragraph almost made me tear up because it is so true). Hope you all enjoy!

Dementia-A Poem

I can hear you
I know you said my name
My mind may not know how to answer
But don't ignore me just the same

I am trapped inside this blank slate
Fleeting memories floating by
I know that they were part of me
But I cannot tell you why

I see and hear and touch and taste
A scent can tug at the edges of my thoughts
I know that at sometime I was more
But all of that is lost, is lost

Who are you?

Who am I?

I don't remember...

Even enough to cry...

-Paula Farris