So before Covid I worked on an Alzheimer’s unit that was a locked. I took care of a man that apparently worked as a maintenance man at an apartment complex. He had Alzheimer’s and he was probably in the later stages of the disease. He could walk , talk and looked what is concerned “normal” except he couldn’t remember yesterday or the week before. And he also would wander, so he would constantly walking around. It was probably because he worked all his life and never sat still when he was working.
The patient rooms were set up with one sink inside the room and a toilet behind a door, almost like a closet. This patient disappears one day. We couldn’t find him so we started looking in every room on that unit. I mean how far could he go? The unit was locked down? Then I walked down the hall and happened to walk into a water puddle. Where was this water coming from? I walk into the room that I believed the water was coming from. I open the door and there is my patient taking the sink off the wall, water is going everywhere, the sink is in the floor with all the pipes and fixtures.
He looks up and says, “sorry miss I’ll be done in just a few minutes. I’m just now finishing up this job.” Water is going everywhere, pipes are lying all around, I’m not even sure how he got this sink or these pipes unhooked without any tools? That has to be a talent, for sure. It’s strange how our minds work. What we remember and what we forget. It’s amazing to me. That’s why I love working around the elderly, they amaze me every shift I work. And that sink was a job to clean up.
At certain age of life people get Alzheimer and it is mysterious to us .Well shared 👌
That’s pretty amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. My great grandmother had Alzheimer’s and it was tough to deal with. Again, thanks for what you do. I sent an email to your iCloud account. I hope it finds you well. Take care of yourself.😊