Visited mum today, took the kids who all made her feel loved with lots of hugs and hastily drawn pictures - flowers from my daughter and 'The sun with legs that walk' (?) given to her by my four year old. She loves seeing them all, even my 13 year old was less 'uggish' than his usual self.
We didn't stay long, she gets tired and also gets a bit circular with her conversation, about an hour and a half maximum for her at the moment. She hates anyone knowing she has Alzheimer's and she hates it when it gets obvious - She has a vague awareness that she's already said 'this that or the other' and starts floundering.
I weighed her, which she didn't really want, but I insisted. The carers are supposed to do it every week but, I think they've forgotten so I'll remind them. Anyway, 6st 11lbs, definitely losing again. She even mentioned 'Do you think my arms are thin?'
That's different to her normal 'I've always been this weight' thing, which I've hated for quite a while now. In the beginning we would try to impress upon her the importance of good diet and when we would mention her weight loss, mainly to back up our requests for her to look after herself, that was always her reply 'I've always been this weight'.
I buy her meals every Wednesday and up to this week she has eaten all of them, I've re-stocked a reassuringly empty fridge. Today, only two days from the re-stock, the fridge is full. She's hardly eaten a thing all week. I checked the carers book and it looks like she's been telling them she's eaten. I was hopeful that she had been eating the sweet stuff I had been providing her, in truck loads, but I spoke to my sister earlier and it seems her kids have been eating them when at mums instead! Evidence remains though that the choc-ices are going down well still.
I was studying her a bit today - she's definitely...brown. She doesn't look yellow which is what I've been lead to think she should be, but she does look - brown. Now, I finally downloaded the pics from my phone, it's only taken me three years...anyway, I had some of her and my kids from two and a half years ago and she wasn't brown then, in fact she was quite fair skinned however, as a younger woman she was very dark, tanned.
I'm still not sure if this is a symptom or, as I said before, her chain smoking habit has just made her merge with the yellow and brown nicotine stained decor. She's turning into one of the furniture.
