Dementia

Like a Fart in a Frying Pan

I care for a priceless lady who is pleasantly demented. Her mobility has decreased significantly. She marvels that she wants to get up and move but her knees just sit there and do nothing. She stares at and then smacks them and says, “Come on knees!” The way she does that, I keep expecting themContinue reading “Like a Fart in a Frying Pan”

My Body is a Sagging Tent

A dear friend, 6 significant years younger than I, contacted me feeling woebegone. She’s about to turn forty and she feels lousy. Her eye-sight is suddenly failing, her metabolism is on strike, and her children – all under the age of 8 – think they are smarter than her despite her doctorate degree. She’d envisionedContinue reading “My Body is a Sagging Tent”

Meant to Belong to a Herd

Part I: OXYTOCIN I took a magnificent Dementia class by fellow occupational therapist Teepa Snow. She taught a contact technique to use on people with dementia. She elaborated that it led to the release of Oxytocin, a hormone produced in mammalian brains. I call it our herd hormone. I later learned it controls social recognitionContinue reading “Meant to Belong to a Herd”