After several calls throughout the day, I finally got an answer, but my mother clearly couldn't hear me. I wonder if she is holding the handset upside down. I called back and got her again. When I said my name she seemed to recognize me.
me: "Ma, how are the tulips doing?"
Ma (Sounding very puzzled): "My lips are OK."
Me: "The tulip bulbs in the clear base on your window sill. Are they blooming?"
Ma: "Bleeding? What's bleeding?"
ME: "Blooming. I'm wondering if your tulip bulbs have flowers yet?"
Ma: "But are you bleeding?"
Me: "No Ma, no one is bleeding. Do you have flowers in your room?"
Ma: "Oh yes! All the tulip buds opened up and they are beautiful!"
Me: "I am so glad. Since we have a bad phone connection, I'll say goodbye now and see you tomorrow!"
This conversation, such as it was, was carried on in full volume.
Ma went to the nursing home last week. It is 32 miles from me, but somehow I don't think we'll be staying in touch by phone. Greeting cards and personal visits will be my choice.
Maybe when I see her tomorrow I can observe how she holds the phone.
In person her hearing problems are not anything we can't cope with. On the phone ... well, she likes getting snail mail. :-D
ie; how are your FLOWERS doing? ill bet theyre PRETTY..
hell your quite brilliant and know this jeanne. i think your just sharing a humorous moment..
I also don't want to try hearing aides with my mom, though she is hard of hearing. Her technological education stopped in the 1960s before the time of video tapes. Gadgetry would only confuse her and get left on her dresser or lost. It's a lot of money to spend for something that wouldn't be used. I mentioned the Lyric brand to her, but she said she didn't want anything stuck in her ear. Besides, we would have to have them replaced every three months or so, and I never know what the next month will bring.
It IS funny, isn't it? Yep, this kind of stuff happens to me every single day. Mom's got Alzheimer's; she's in an assisted living residence. She's got hearing aids but, like others have mentioned, any kind of newfangled technology or -- oh, I don't know -- HAVING TO REMEMBER TO PUT THE HEARING AIDS IN is wasted on her.
No word of a lie, this morning's conversation went something like this:
"Chris! How do I spell FIRED? I've got F-I-R-D."
"No, Mom. It's E-D...... F-I-R-E-D."
"Beg your pardon?"
"F-I-R-E-D."
"F-I-R-D."
"Mom? Are you writing this down as I say it? F-I-R-E-D. Read it back to me."
At which point she starts to cry because she can't read her chicken scratch, and has forgotten how to spell.
I have seen so many elderly people (with and without dementia) struggle with the phone. What IS that?! And they don't have sophisticated iPhones or Androids. I'm talking basic cordless phones or even basic flip phones. The numbers on the key pad should be a clue as to how the phone is held. Even my aunt, who is 90 and sharp as a tack, gets the phone upside down. Yesterday I had a very long conversation with her chin and she kept saying, "I'm having a hard time hearing you." She's not hard of hearing. No dementia. She's just old. But I had to yell so she could hear me with the phone upside down.
My dad had his cell phone is his room at the NH and while he used to use it with no problems it became more difficult for him. I tried to walk him through it when I was there (you open it and then you dial the phone number) but it was just too difficult for him and I removed the phone from his room otherwise he'd spy it sitting on the dresser and we'd both spend a half an hour trying to talk to eachother. It was sad.
Good topic, Jeanne!