That has wound up her sleeping schedule, one a.m. to one p.m. And sometimes she actually sleeps until it’s almost supper time.
They used to call it “hardening of the arteries,” , the condition that is causing her vascular dementia. It doesn’t matter that I feed her healthy food now. Almost 92 years of kielbasa is a very long time. It’s too late to take the cholesterol medicine she has always refused to take.
Yesterday morning she woke up at 8 a.m. agitated and muttering “We have to get out of here.” “We are going crazy.” When she tried to stand up her legs gave out. “Who’s beating me?” she asked. “Everything hurts.”
Every once in a while, in one of her altered states, she says, “I’m sick. I’m dying.” And then she cries.
There’s not much we can do except try to reassure her in calm, easy voices. We are here, we say. You are not alone, we say. Everything is OK. We will not leave you.