Thursday, November 15, 2012

Talking To Dementia Part 4

"Hello, Papa."
"What happened?"
"I don't know."
Dad had a big wound on his forehead above his left eye and another one right on his nose. He was scratching his head, feeling over the wounds, wondering why there was mending tape on his face.
"Are you in pain, Papa?"
"Does your head hurt?"
"Does anything else hurt?"
It is best to ask questions that require a yes or no answer. Otherwise we might not get any answer at all.
I asked Dad's wife and the nurse what had happened. 
At the time an old classmate of mine was on shift, and I knew from being there a lot that he checked on Dad frequently. Even when he was fast asleep. Between two of those frequent checks Dad must have gotten up from his bed and fallen to the floor. There was blood on the floor and on his sheets, they said. Poor Dad. He must have been dreaming.
He kept feeling over his wounds, trying to figure out what was going on. I asked him "Did you fall, Papa?" He said "I don't know."
There was a little bit of blood left on his arm. He saw it and asked "What happened?" - "Who died?"
"Nobody died, Papa. You hurt yourself."
"Do you remember?"
There wasn't much conversation after that. It was quite visible that Dad was in pain and I hated it. As if he didn't have enough to deal with. 
As usual his wife was there, holding his hand from time to time, telling him it would be okay. He trusted her and seemed relieved each time she said it.