confused mum

i had, for the longest time, been writing about mum and her mood swings as well as her deep sense of suspicions with people around her. all these were behavioral manifestations of her paranoia. but increasingly over the last couple of weeks, i am seeing a new development in her mental state. the frequency of paranoia-related conditions seemed to have stabilized and the frequency of confusion has increased. this is consistent with what i read in the internet about mid-stage dementia patient.

just yesterday, after the maid does the nightly massage for her, mum kept asking why her hands were different. after assuring her that they were the same, i tried to distract her by pointing her to the tv serial in channel 8. to mum, all tv serials have something consistent - there're always "good people", and "bad people". she took a glance at the show and then asked why the "bad people" are different. and as she asked, she showed me her hands. oh dear, she has confused the characters in show with her hands! and sensing the danger of her getting paranoid because of "bad people", i quickly switched to channel 5 where a news bulletin was being screened. the news was covering a story about a newly completed bus hub at bedok. the next thing i knew, mum asked me why the "bus interchange" were different! she had gotten the concepts of "hand" and "bus interchange" mixed up and now referred to her hands as "bus interchange".

the maid's initial look of confusion quickly turned to laughter. yup, it was indeed funny. but to me, it was also disheartening. i don't think my domestic worker understands the implications of this development. and i wondered if my mum would still be the same by the time the domestic help comes back from her home leave mid-dec.