Senior Field Trip

A few weeks ago, Bev received permission to smoke in her room at the assisted living facility. We have to pay additional money for this benefit, and if she is caught using her oxygen while lighting up, the privilege will be taken away immediately. (Bev's solution: Just don't use that pesky oxygen!) Her apartment is now a cloudy, smelly little refuge, where the rest of her smoking cronies hang out because they do not want to spend the extra funds to smoke in their own rooms. Well, at least Bev always has company lately! Since she is not using her oxygen, with the possible exception of a few nights here and there, she is starting to huff and puff again when she walks just a few feet. Her oxygen level is low, and she is becoming more and more forgetful. The funny thing about Alzheimer’s disease is that the sufferers think that they are perfectly coherent and that no one else is remembering events correctly. It makes for some frustrating, yet still often comical, conversations.

Today, the assisted living place sponsored a trip for the seniors to the MGM Grand casino. Bev eagerly signed up for the outing last week, and told Jim that she would need some extra money for gambling. It was a four-hour excursion, with only about two of those hours actually spent inside the casino, yet Bev demanded $400 to drop into the slot machines. Jim gave her $200, but she whined and fussed so much that he caved in and gave her some additional cash. Anyway, who are these valiant employees who volunteered to chaperone, let loose, then attempt to keep track of Alzheimer’s patients running amok inside a huge gambling establishment? What brave souls! Word tonight is that Bev did not win any money, and she became quickly fatigued as she sauntered around the casino, stubbornly refusing to use either her walker or her portable oxygen. The staff members returned to the assisted living facility with the same number of residents that they left with, so the excursion was considered a success. I just hope the memory-altered gamblers were supervised enough to realize whether or not they may have actually hit a jackpot.