Constantly analyzing

After several days of playing phone tag, the nurse and I finally connected. Her words brought a sense of dread. “Your dad has dementia,”she explained. I stood in stunned silence, not wanting to accept it but knowing I had seen the signs. I tried to categorize the level and she provided the number fourteen. I didn’t really understand the number and mentally noted to research later.

I continue to mull over the diagnosis. Will the SAIDO training I received help him? The last time I encouraged him to complete math problems, it backfired. Should I try more difficult problems instead? Will he end up at Waterford? Would this early diagnosis prolong his life, unlike my mother who never received an official evaluation? Do most elders, termed by the nurse, end up with dementia? Is it inevitable?

Another struggle is my father’s weight. His arms look scrawny and puny. He doesn’t want to eat lunch and states that he isn’t hungry. The aides have told me that they always try, but what can you do? If someone doesn’t want to eat, they won’t eat. My brother brushes off my concerns, saying that he wouldn’t eat lunch either if he had a big lunch. The fact that my father regularly drinks Ensures helps offset lunch. I have my doubts.

After these types of conversations, I often think of how food is such a challenge for society. At school, teachers are always trying to encourage students to eat as well. They know how nutritious food enables learning. At the other end of the spectrum, nurses constantly encourage elderly patients to eat. Walk into any nursing home facility at mealtimes and you will see nurses serving food, encouraging residents to eat, and sometimes feeding residents, like a mother spooning food to her toddler. It is a never-ending battle– eating well.

My thoughts usually continue and I think about my mother in heaven. What happens in heaven with food? Is there even such a thing? Is there an unlimited amount of food? One website, https://www.compellingtruth.org/food-heaven.html, focused on the words of Revelation 19: 9 where the angel mentioned the wedding supper of the Lamb. In Revelation 7:16, it says, “Never again will they hunger or thirst.” Thinking about the many people who battle food addictions reminds me of this glorious hope and I feel peace.