Mom lost most of her sight 14 years ago but was able to live alone with some help that we hired in. Suddenly she lost a great deal of what remained of her vision and we were told eventually she would be completely blind. At that point we invited her to live with us. She accepted, 9 years ago. She has over the past few years also suffered profound hearing loss. She asks a lot of questions (she can't see after all, I understand that need) but she can never hear the answers. I stand at her bedside (she has been bedridden for a year now, needs diapers, bed baths and can't feed herself sometimes) answering the question sometimes as many as 6 or 7 times until she gets the answer. Lately this is driving me nuts.So many of the questions are just out of curiosity and I feel less and less compelled to answer every single one. I hate it that she is locked in to her own little world, and feel so badly for her, but I have less patience for things that don't actually need to be done as there are so many things I must do. Thankfully we have carers 2x a day 7 days a week to do most hygiene and dressing but we can't leave her alone for more than a couple of hours in between meals and never over night. Any advice?
Yes, you will need to answer your Mom a half dozen times, I know how annoying that can be and how easy it is to lose patience.... try rearranging the wording each time you answer, or use different words to get the same point across. It's not your Mom's fault her hearing is so bad now, it's all part of aging. Plus, her brain is hearing different words than what you or I hear.... if I say "jello", Mom will hear "pillow". Then if I say "strawberry jello" she will catch on to what I am saying.
Put yourself in your Mom's shoes, imagine wanting to communicate with others but it becomes very difficult... she's probably as frustrated as you are.
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