Culminating Blog Reflection

Working with Alzheimer's patients can get very challenging. The fact that a person with this disease can suddenly lose control of their brain at any second is a scary thought. When a person started to yell and scream unexpectedly, I had to think fast. I needed to calm them down and reassure them that everything was okay. Talking to them helped them think and listen and sometimes, I would start a conversation with them. They seemed happier when I started conversations with them. I was glad to hear stories about what they remembered when they were children. However, it saddened me because they couldn't remember anything recently that has happened.

Personally, I overcame some of my shyness by talking to the patients at Aegis Living. I went up to people and tried to start conversations with them. I also became gentler. People with Alzheimer’s disease can be sensitive. I watched what I said around them to make sure I didn't say anything to offend them even if it wasn't considered offensive. Lastly, I learned that Alzheimer’s cannot be cured. However, keeping the mind occupied may prevent this disease from happening.

There weren't many challenges I encountered when volunteering at Aegis Living. The ones I did were when the patients were fighting. It was scary how fast a person’s emotion can change so fast. I separated the two patients and tried to bring up an interesting topic to talk about. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't  When it didn't work, I got one of the caretakers that worked there. Another challenge was when patients asked when their family was coming to visit them. I had to lie to them and say that their family was coming. One time, this lady asked me when her husband was coming and it hurt to say that he was coming soon because I found out that he passed away a while ago. Before I could be strong for myself, I had to be strong for them. 

April 3, 2013: 2 hours

Today I served dinner to Assistant Living. There were no problems today. Everything went really well. There was a very upbeat mood and everyone was really nice. I poured coffee, served soup and dessert. Then I cleaned up the tables and set it up again for the next day.

I will continue to learn about the disease. I have a total of 26 hours completed.

March 13, 2013

I have not been able to volunteer these past few weeks.

Personal Narrative

            Family is one of the most important factors in life. There are many people who grow up as a single child; however, there are many who grow up with siblings. I am one of those lucky people who grew up with a sibling. I have one sister and she is three years older than me. Although we have our differences sometimes, I love her dearly because she cares for me and takes care of me. I can say that my sister and I are pretty close. I can tell her everything about anything and she can do the same to me. There are many reasons why I love my sister, but the way she treats me makes me happy.

            My sister is a complete Taylor Swift fan and she told me that she wanted to go to her concert coming up. She asked me if I wanted to go and I said yes. The concert wasn’t until months from then because she had to get the tickets, but I was happy she asked if I wanted to go with her. Out of all people, she asked me if I wanted to go with her. She paid for everything and I really appreciated it.

            When the concert day came, we were both pretty excited. It was our first concert we have ever been to and we went together. We took a picture with a cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift and ate hot dogs. She even bought me a Taylor Swift shirt as souvenir. When we went into the arena, we found our seats and they were pretty good. We could see everything. The concert was about to start and we were getting our singing voices ready. Throughout the concert, we were singing and dancing to Taylor Swift’s songs together and having fun.

            Having a sibling can make you happier because you have someone to play with and spend time with. I had a fun time with my sister at the Taylor Swift concert. I saw one of my favorite singers with my favorite sister. There was no other person I would have rather been with other than my sister. I always have a good time whenever I'm with my sister. She is the only person I can be myself with and I'm glad she is my sister.

February 17, 2013: 3 hours

Today I made leprechaun hats with the residents for St. Patrick's Day. Only one resident was helping out, but it was still fun because she had such a positive attitude.

When dinner came along, I help served the food. I thought it was cute because a lot of the resident's families came to visit them today. It made me happy because the residents seemed to be happier with the company. When the residents were eating, a resident who doesn't speak much English called me over. I went to her and she grabbed my hand. She kept speaking in her language, and I didn't know what to do. So I just smiled at her until she let go.

One resident got really mad. He started to swear and yell. I was frightened and shocked because he was one of the residents who was really nice to me. However, I know he didn't get mad intentionally. Alzheimer's can make a person change moods in an instant because it messes with the brain.

A lot of residents said that they were cold, but the room we were in was quite warm. I guess the disease makes a person cold because it's draining out all of their energy.

The next step is to keep observing people with Alzheimer's behavior. I have a total of 24 hours completed.

February 6, 2013: 4 hours

The first thing I did was paint a resident's nails. She fell asleep while I was painting them. And I felt like she was having some kind of nightmare because she was twitching. I got kind of scared, but when she woke up, she was fine.

Next, when I walked through the door for Life's Neighborhood, one of the residents tried talking to me. But she was whispering so I couldn't really understand her. I tried to asked her if anything was wrong, and all I heard was, "don't tell anyone. Now go on, I know your mom." Something along those lines. I didn't know what to do, so I walked away when she walked away.

I read and asked some trivia questions. One person answered and got most of them right. However, I can tell she was getting frustrated when she didn't know the answers to some of them. So I tried hinting to her what it was or I'd just tell her and move on to the next question.

When dinner was about to start, I was trying to get the residents to the table. One of the residents was in a wheelchair. And she kept trying to leave from the table. Whenever I put her back to the table, she kind of growled at me, but I know it's not her fault because it's the disease and I felt like she was getting a little impatient because the food wasn't there yet.

The next step is to keep learning about the disease. I have a total of 21 hours completed.

February 2, 2013: 1 hour

Today I served dinner to the residents in Assistant Living. There was this one lady who was very nice. She still remembered my name which really shocked me. It was also nice that she still remembered my name because it means that the disease isn't as severe for her.

As I was clearing the tables, a lady in a wheelchair said she needed to go to the bathroom. She asked me to push her to the restroom, so I did. And when we got there, she asked me to wait outside. I said okay. But then she told me that she needed help with getting on the toilet. As she was getting up out of her wheelchair, I panicked and got a caretaker as soon as possible. The caretaker helped her and I went back to clear the tables.

The next step is to observe how Alzheimer's affects a person. I have a totally of 17 hours.