Discharged from the James

Mother has just been picked up to go to Autumn Healthcare in Cambridge by ambulance.

She seems a lot worse today, more delusional, more free with her 4-letter words, talking non-stop.  Dad was pretty upset and immediately whispered to me, "Don't take anything she says personally, Becky."

She's making her own language, child-like.  She had started by hitting the nurse call button and blaring into the speaker, "Beep, Beep, Beep" whenever a monitor went off in her room.  Then she started calling that button her Doodle-doodle-doo.  And her walker is Evinrude, like the little bug pushing the leaf boat around in the Disney film, The Rescuers.  Today she asked if I was "ticky ticky boppy boppy" and she meant to ask whether I typing on my phone to leave a blog message.  She's all about onomatopoeia at this point.

I'm not sure she recognized me when I first arrived.  There was no indication on her face and it took her several minutes to refer to me as though she knew who I was, and then she didn't really greet me.

She's getting bossier and chattier.  The ambulance team is in for a long ride.

I'm tying up a few things here, then headed to Chris's either this evening or tomorrow, until Saturday when we'll go down to stay with Dad and help him for a while.

Visitors will be welcome, but be prepared, and as Dad says, "Don't take it personally."  She's not herself any more.