A.A.A.D.D. KNOW THE SYMPTOMS Thank goodness theres a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!! Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests itself: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I head towards the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I picked up from the postman earlier. I decid...e to go through it before I wash the car. I put my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the recycling box under the table, and notice that the recycling box is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the recycling first. But then I think, since Im going to be near the post box when I take out the recycling paper anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my cheque book off the table and notice that there is only one cheque left. My extra cheques are in the desk in my study, so I go into the house to my desk where I find the cup of tea Id been drinking. Im going to look for my cheques but first I need to push the tea aside so that I dont accidentally knock it over. The tea is getting cold, and I decide to make another cup.. As I head toward the kitchen with the cold tea, a vase of flowers on the worktop catches my eye the flowers need water. I put the tea on the worktop and discover my glasses that Ive been searching for all morning. I decide Id better put them back on my desk, but first Im going to water the flowers.. I put the glasses back down on the worktop, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control. Someone left it on the kitchen table.. I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, Ill be looking for the remote, but I wont remember that its on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back where it belongs, but first Ill water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I put the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: The car isnt washed The bills arent paid There is a cold cup of tea sitting on the kitchen work-surface The flowers dont have enough water, There is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book, I cant find the remote, I cant find my glasses, And I dont remember what I did with the car keys. Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, Im really baffled because I know I was busy all bloody day and Im really tired. I realise this is a serious problem, and Ill try to get some help for it, but first Ill check my e-mail.. Do me a favour. Forward this message to everyone you know, Because I cant remember who the hell Ive sent it to. Dont laugh if this isnt you yet, your day is coming!!
Hell you have scared the daylights out of me where do I get certified does this mean my travelling days are over gee this getting old has some problems is the nursing home my next stop
Can I get a Medical Pension for this condition. We will head straight to the MD. I'm feeling poorly. They have to give me something back for all the years of paying our taxes.
You know Neale there is a name for those who hide in the bushes making notes and taking pictures of us old codjers. Especially when their data is so undeniably accurate.
Can't recall what that name is right now but gimme another day or so.
Hmm, By the sounds of the replies above it must be contagious. Maybe the original post should have been posted in Health and Well Being or I Degress. LOL. Love it.
Neal - your post was very amusing and hopefully somewhat exaggerated. I work in the Aged Care Industry now days (if you cant beat them, join them and get paid lol) and you describe the classic symptoms of early dementia. I work with people in secure dementia units who display the same behaviours. However, your coginitive ablibilty to type such a long post describing all this suggests its just classic "old age" syndrome.
From the age of 50, our brains literally start to shrink as we age, so our capacity to cope with diseases like dementia, decrease.
But as no doubt many other people on the Forum who have friends and relatives with dementia can agree, many sufferers are still lovely and affectionate people.
Many are in secure aged care facilities when they shouldn't be. They are there because they lack the funds or support of family to care for them (or the family are elderly as well) or place them in better (and more expensive) homes
__________________
Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Neal - your post was very amusing and hopefully somewhat exaggerated. I work in the Aged Care Industry now days (if you cant beat them, join them and get paid lol) and you describe the classic symptoms of early dementia. I work with people in secure dementia units who display the same behaviours. However, your coginitive ablibilty to type such a long post describing all this suggests its just classic "old age" syndrome.
From the age of 50, our brains literally start to shrink as we age, so our capacity to cope with diseases like dementia, decrease.
But as no doubt many other people on the Forum who have friends and relatives with dementia can agree, many sufferers are still lovely and affectionate people.
Many are in secure aged care facilities when they shouldn't be. They are there because they lack the funds or support of family to care for them (or the family are elderly as well) or place them in better (and more expensive) homes
Hi Bruce & Bev,
I'm going off topic for a moment. As you know out daughter is an RN working in aged care while doing Grad Law. In her observations with the above comments. So many in her care do not take in enough fluids. Even though they have both bottled water and jugs of water. They still suffer from not drinking enough. She users her aids to help more with BIG BIG improvements.
She through her own eyes, by getting them to drink more. they have marked improvement. She users their families when visiting to encourage their love ones to drink water together, as well. She has taken this to the Doctors. Its not as silly as it may sound. Long term dehighdration through the years with the brain, over and over.???????
Our daughter's long term goal is to work in Health Policy.
Yep Jim - lets go off topic lol.......also a lot of it in aged care facility is lack of ongoing stimulation. Some of them practice various Amercian and UK programmes to stimulate the mind and thinking process by group talk sessions and games. Unfortunately, unless you have a $800-900K to buy a bed in a top notch facility and the expensive on-going monthly fees (yep folks - its that dear to get into a really good home and the Govt don't open the wallets to pay for that sort of care, so don't rely on the pension), this stimulation is usually conducted mostly by well-meaning volunteers who have little training. Then you end up with a room mostly full of residents who are either asleep or not interested and sit there with glazed eyes.
Most facilities (including the so called not for profit ones) run bus trips 3-4 times a week for those mentally and physically able to go on it. Unfortunately where they go and what they do is dictated by the person who is either mentally or physically the worst of the group, so the ones who are only suffering from mild dementia get totally bored and end up not going and sitting in a chair staring at the TV all day.
The really frightening thing is that the number of people requiring care in these facilities is expected to double in the next 5 years or so. The Govt is encouraging people to stay in their own home using the NDIS funding set up last year. But it is not cheap. It can cost up to $80,000 a year for a person who is regarded as high care where their home is wheelchair modified, lifting (the body from bed to chair etc) gear, trained staff is added up and they still then are left in their home alone for up to 12-16 hours a day.
Health care of the aged is becoming a huge cost on the economy and is rapidly getting worse (and yes - I will eventually be one of the recipiants. The hope is whichever of us goes down hill 1st will be looked after by the other as we are now trained in aged facilities and home as well as specialist disability care - that's the plan anyway)
Your daughter is right about hydration. Unless the person is suffering a specific disease or it is ordered by the GP, their fluid intakes are not recorded, so no-one really has the slightest idea if the resident is drinking enough or not. Then most meals are accompanied with a desert of tinned mixed fruit (full of sugar), whipped cream or ice cream - even if they are diabetic
__________________
Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
We will head straight to the MD. I'm feeling poorly. They have to give me something back for all the years of paying our taxes.
