Grandma With Dementia | Teen Ink

Grandma With Dementia

January 5, 2010
By hifive SILVER, Hartland, Wisconsin
hifive SILVER, Hartland, Wisconsin
9 articles 0 photos 0 comments

High School student 17-year-old Steve's visit with his grandmother this year was all but normal. Steve’s family decided to go spend Thanksgiving with his grandmother. When they arrived, they noticed something wasn’t quite right.

“This was not my grandma,” said Steve. “When I saw her I couldn’t recognize her.”

Steve said his grandma was normally cheery, but that day she was depressed. Her room was a mess. His mother left the room with his grandmother to try and cheer her up. While they were gone, Steve’s mother asked Steve to clean up the apartment.

“I still couldn’t recognize her,” Steve said, after his mother and grandmother returned.

She was not as cheery and sane as normal.

They sensed something was wrong so they took her to the doctor.

“My mom made me sit next to her,” Steve said.
He was uncomfortable sitting with her because she was swearing and saying other strange things.

When they got to the doctor, they discovered what was wrong with her. She has Dementia, which is a brain disorder affecting such things as memory, attention, or language. Steve said the doctor suggested assisted living, which is when a person is paid to come and watch over someone.

They made sure everything she was good to leave, and they went back home with her. She now has someone who is taking care of her. All the issues were not resolved, though.

“She was calling me nonstop,” Steve said.
His mother told him to stop answering after a while.

One simple visit can entirely change the way someone looks at a person. Even someone as close as your grandma can turn into an entirely different person.



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