Shopping Lesosn

October 24th, 2010

This weekend was our “big” shopping weekend. I have been taking my brother along shopping with me. I have told him that I need the help lifting and carrying things since I had my hand surgery, which is true. It also makes him feel useful and gets him out of the house. It also tends to be stressful for me, since I have to walk slower so that he can keep up with me and I always need to keep an eye on him so that he doesn’t become overwhelmed by the people there.

We went to the big warehouse club store to stock up. Since it was close to noon when we were done, I thought we would get hot dogs there. I thought he had been doing better, so I asked him to take the cart and get us a table while I got the hot dogs and drinks. I knew this was a mistake right away. He got about 10 feet away and, with a lot of people moving around him, he just froze. I could see that he was confused and unsure of what to do. Fortunately, the line for food moved fast and I got to him in just a couple of minutes.

We talked about this in my caregiving class: that people with any form of dementia can become confused and upset in crowds or unfamiliar situations and that, as caregivers, we are their lifeline. Since he has regained a few basic IADL skills, I assumed he could handle this. It still seems so strange that I need to watch over him as I would a child. And yet, I need to try to treat him as an adult.

We did enjoy the hot dogs, though.