Sundown...er....you better take care.....

So, my patient is in mid stage of Dementia w/Alzheimer's...and keeps thinking she's visiting us at our house for a BBQ.  The poor thing is so confused and has at times lashed out due to this. Along with the Dementia she has Sundowner's Syndrome which is now being classified as an anxiety disorder among seniors with Dementia.  Basically, the patient has a bit of anxiety due to being confused at the end of the day or within a couple of hours before I leave. Sundowner’s Syndrome is the name given to an ailment that causes symptoms of confusion with agitation and anxiety just before or after “sundown.” These symptoms appear in people who suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia. Not all patients who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s exhibit Sundowner’s symptoms, however. Some exhibit symptoms of dementia all day which grow worse in the late afternoon and evening, while others may exhibit no symptoms at all until the sun goes down.

Sundowner’s Syndrome largely remains a mystery to medical geniuses and there are loads of theories about why these symptoms begin at and/or near night time. A lot more studies are being conducted to determine the exact cause.
Doctors believe it’s an accumulation of all of the sensory stimulation from the day which begins to overwhelm and cause stress, thus anxiety, anger, agitation, etc... Plus, you're working with a human being who has pretty much all their lives been able to provide, care, etc... for themselves, and become agitated that they need to They speculate Sundowner’s Syndrome is also caused by hormonal imbalances that occur at night as well as the imbalance of their psyche due to the Dementia. Others believe that the onset of symptoms at night is due to simple fatigue and becoming anxious due to the inability to see well in the dark.

The theory that the symptoms have something to do with darkness have been somewhat supported by studies where some  symptoms seem to subside within an hour of the return of daylight. There is evidence nursing facility patients show an increase in Sundowner’s symptoms during winter which may have a connection with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is believed to cause depression in the winter due to the shorter periods of sunlight, and it affects people of all ages. And as mentioned before, doctor's are now treating this as an anxiety disorder of sorts and should now  be treated as such since making the patient comfortable, happy with either a warm sweater, letting them watch their favie TV show or presenting them with a tasty treat doesn't seem to help ease the anxiety or anger.

Uh, yeah; it's all theory.  Nothing as of yet is found regarding a cure for Alzheimer's.  There is a new procedure that's out there where they can give you a sort of catscan/MRI like test to determine how advanced or how your brain is functioning re: Dementia.

Now this week was pretty funny actually.  Well, the week just started but it's been a long emotional ride as this lovely woman I've known for ages is just...deteriorating before my very eyes; and it's very heartbreaking!  She's more ambulatory as she has fallen again (not on MY shift mind you) and fractured her pelvic bone.  She's walking about and digging around and found my bag.  As I was doing her dishes after feeding her lunch I noticed she was a bit quieter than usual, so I went to investigate and found my stuff out of my bag...all over the couch and floor.  I noticed my tampons, ciggies, lighter and the lid to my very expensive coffee tumbler were missing. After playing the game of "search the hell outta the house for my schtuff" I finally found the missing items; my tampons and ciggies were by her bureau in her room, my lighter wrapped in a paper towel in the 'fridge and my lid to my tumbler on her bookshelf.  Funny.  She keeps telling me the story of how her brother made her sofa which is to this day still standing strong since 1950. She does have her off times, thus the deal regarding Sundowner's (sounds like the name of a country band.  It WAS a name of a country band....Joel Daley from ABC 7 Chicago, to be exact) and her anxiety and anger has been directed toward me.  I was told it was because she doesn't remember me and doesn't get as aggresive with her daughter for obvious reasons. It's a bit hard to not take her anger "personal" but I must be in nurse mode as well as friend mode and just do my darndest to make her happy and comfortable, and keep myself safe.

By the way...

Have I told you how much I just LOOOOOVE Pandora online radio? I have about 9 radio stations which include old school rap and country, doo wop, sixties goodies and rock as well as a classical station w/Mozart...who makes you smart..when you listen to Mozart....Sigh....love Pandora....OK, back to research!

Ancestry research???? 1940s Census availability???? BAAAH!

And I MEAN...bah, humbug! I've never been so discouraged with research in my entire life! OK, just venting a bit...buuuuut...we're supposed to be able to find oodles of further info via ancestry(dot)com on the 1940 Census, and I'm finding squat! I may be a bit bitter....but what can I tell you? I have been looking forward to this day to upload and pick up more info on my family's tree and add more but the only progress I've been able to gain is with the itty, bitty info my father-in-law gave me. He gave me the names of his parents, and voila!!! I was able to trace my husband's side way into the Plymouth era of the United States. People, get information from your family and write it down if you want to build a family tree And thanks to that great show on NBC called "Who Do You Think You Are?" the ancestry site is constantly crashing with loads of fellow history nerds taking up all sorts of valuable space at the exact time I wish to research? ARGH...anyway....so, off I am to download, research and Google for more of the skinny on our family. I must call my Tia to verify some stuff.....sod the total research at this time.

Mommas of the '50s; Mona Lisa smile or Virgin Mary smile?

You all know I care for a nonagenarian who has survived the Great Depression and has made it known to all of us repeatedly. You see; she's the mother of one of my oldest friends. So, Gran maw-maw was ten-ish the first year after Black Monday of 1929. She's lived in her house all her life and was born in a house four doors down from her current residence. She has seen things that will make you wig out! The transformation of our little neighborhood from a field to a full-blown "village/small town" of sorts where there was a business of some sort and a tavern on every corner (well, after prohibition actually), thus the knickname of the area from north Pilsen down toward Back of the Yards "Whiskey Alley," All them hard working stock yard workers, factory drones and others had to decompress some way, thus....the bottle!

Well, I'm sitting with her and watching on a regular basis (per her request) "Mona Lisa Smile," as she was completely the age of those Wellesley girls in that there movie. The wedding scene in the movie resonates with me most as it was that year more or less my patient married her husband.

She tells me the two stories on a regular basis re: when she married her husband which was January 1953. They were supposed to go to Florida for their honeymoon but had to stay in Chicago as it was incredibly snowy! Well, that's what she says....I can't find any documentation regarding the weather history of that month on the net.

The other story she mentions is how she would work one shift whilst her husband worked another. They both worked at the GM plant that was on 39th/Pershing and Paulina in the McKinley Park neighborhood, which is now the location of brand new gorgeous million dollar homes. She mentioned she'd come home, hubby would go out to work. She'd clean up, change, get the house prepped and dinner ready (or lunch as he worked another shift than she) and she knew exactly when he'd come home, so she'd sit...dressed up in her pseudo Dior of the time and her heels, pearl necklace and with dinner on the table, hair perfect, no apron on she'd sit; and wait until he walked in the door; making like she made absolutely no effort to make dinner or seemed exhausted after her long shift at the GM plant, then off to cook, clean, press his clothes, etc.... She told me "It was my place to look like his pretty wife waiting for her husband. What kind of wife would I be if I wasn't dressed lovely for my husband, with dinner ready for him on the table after he just slaved at the plant?" I asked, "but what about you? You just spent an entire day at the plant, and then you'd rush home, cook dinner, clean the house, in your heels and pearls and then when you were finished, you'd do your hair and prep yourself to resemble Lucy Ricardo so your husband had something pretty to look at whilst he ate."

She'd take his bag, coat, etc....pull out his chair and serve him. How "Leave it to Beaver" like, would't you say? I asked, "weren't you tired from work yourself?" She said, "that's what we did. We sacrificed ourselves for the happiness of our husbands and family. It was a sin and selfish for a married woman to think of herself in any way. She had to give everything to her husband....and family."

Wow. "Mona Lisa Smile" wasn't too far off according to her, no? The Marcia Gay Harden character epitomizes what my patient was....but my patient was married. Marcia's character stated in class (she was one of the "professors" at Wellesley) "a few years from now your sole responsibility will be taking care of your husband and children." She went on about how the girls are there for an easy "A" but she states with irritation, "but the grade that matters most is the one 'HE' gives you; not me." So basically, she reiterates how it was so important to be that perfect wife, mother, maid, cook, etc...as it's possible for your husband to give you a thumbs down or even reject you (as we see in the movie via Kirsten Dunst's character). Furthermore, re: Kirsten Dunst's character, she expresses that idealism; stating how it's their duty; nay, obligation to do such, IE, to "reclaim our place in the home; bearing the children that will carry our traditions into the future." She had photos taken of herself studying and vaccuuming up as her husband sat with his paper, pipe and sitting in his easy chair.

Why am I going on about this? Well, it just proves the accuracy so to speak of the movie "Mona Lisa Smile." That whole....Donna Reed/June Cleaver thing wasn't a joke, nor an urban legend. It was real. Women may have been able to attend college and earn amazing degrees, but what did those women do with said degrees? Went off for the most part and got married, and had children. And they took care of those husbands' and children; and raised the non-traditionalist future bra/draft card burning anti-war Woodstock attending dancing naked high on acid and weed Grateful Dead fans who happen to be our parents. Furthermore, I think it's terribly fascinating! And I now know even more so how the term "mother's little helper" came into play. They needed it...desperately.... It reminds me of an old "Family Circus" book cover with the mom all frazzled with the four kids hanging off her, the little girl handing her a brush and her ponytail all jacked up, the baby crying, dogs barking, the two boys pulling on her, phone ringing, ironing behind her and she's holding a saucepan that seems to have burnt product in it with the headline, "For This I Went To College?"

I love that! I actually had that book too back in the day.....

To think those amazing women went to college to do just that....

No wonder the ERA/women's right movement went full throttle in the 60s.