Tuesday, January 15, 2013

January 15, 2013: 3 hours

Today I colored with some of the residents in Life's Neighborhood. Aegis was getting ready for Chinese New Years and Valentine's Day so they were decorating the place with hearts and Chinese lanterns. I was coloring hearts and teddy bears with some of the residents. While we were coloring, another resident who was in a wheelchair started to yell and scream at the top of her lungs. It startled not only me, but the other residents in the room as well. The caretakers kept asking her what was wrong and trying to calm her down, but she kept yelling. The lady I was coloring with got a little irritated and kept yelling at the lady who was screaming to be quiet in a mean way. I was a little frightened because of all the constant yelling and screaming going on, but I tried my best to stay calm for the residents. I tried to talk to the lady I was coloring with to keep her mind off of the lady who was screaming, and it seemed to work for a while until the lady in the wheelchair screamed again. But soon enough, she stopped and we continued to color.

I asked one of the caretakers why the lady in the wheelchair was screaming and she told me that it was because of the disease. That got me interested in learning more about what this disease can do to a person.

After I finished serving dinner to Life’s Neighborhood, I went to talk to my mentor and asked him some questions about dementia. I learned that for people who have dementia, their brain is a lot different than those who don’t have dementia. In the brain of a dementia patient, it has plaxitatum, which attacks certain parts of the brain. It suffocates the brain cells and once the brain cells are gone, they can never come back. You cannot recreate brain cells.

It’s really sad how there is no way of helping the people with dementia. The only thing I can do is try to talk to them and keep them company as much as possible.

Next, I will learn more about the disease and how it will affect people’s brains.

I have a total of 16 hours completed.

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