Do you take out Alzheimer's patient out of the nursing home for the holidays? Or even for day trips?
My grandmother thinks she is in the hospital and numerous times a day will inquire about going home; she asks if she still has a house; etc..etc..
We would like to have her for the holidays, but we are worried about getting her back into her nursing home afterwards.
When we first brought her to the nursing home, she cried and it was just plain awful for us to watch her go through. We knew it was the right decision, but it was so hard to get her to go. We worry she won't willingly go back and we will go through what we did all over again.
It is too much for her to attend family events or to take her out of the facility? Do you have any suggestions on getting her to go back in to the nursing home once she has left? TIA!
It really depends on where she is in this journey. My Mom lasted about an hour when we took her out.
How many people are going to be there? Will there be screaming kids and crying babies? Is your family loud? This can cause anxiety in a person suffering from Dementia. And it can carry over at the AL.
If its going to be a pretty quiet get together, I would take her right before dinner is served and back to the AL as soon as u see agitation. I would have people hold back on hugs and don't bombard GMom. It can be very overwhelming for her.
You can ask staff at the NH what they think.
I would let her be, why stir up the pot, do the right thing for her, not what you want to make you feel better.
When my MIL first went into LTC we tried to bring her home for holidays, carrying her 180 lbs in a wheelchair up the very steep side yard (in the freezing, snow covered MN winter) and then realizing our small bathroom could not accommodate the wheelchair and she soiled her Depends and we couldn't help with cleaning her up and she was stressed and it was very smelly. In the end all we did was orbit around her while neglecting other guests and feeling stressed and hurried. Then she insisted on going back early. (They eat a lot earlier than the average non-NH resident). We were all exhausted by end of the holiday. It was difficult to give up having all our LOs gathered. We had to work on that mentally and emotionally. Blessings!