Dementia leads to a lot of circular conversations.Mimi asks us the same questions every day. After about a year of this, we realized making some visual aids could help the situation. We started with large posters on her bedroom wall and she reads them often. Then, I stumbled across the custom kids books on Artifact and thought it would be cool to make Mimi a book that answers all her usual questions like where is her mother and is there a funeral today. She loves the book but, like with the posters, always forgets it exists. So, every day, I show it to her all over again and it's sweet to see her eyes light up because someone made a whole book about her. I'm pretty sure this is the only thing I've ever done that has actually impressed her.
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Tired Mimi gets these teeny tiny eyes. They aren't slits like your average mostly-closed eyes, oh no, they're perfectly round tiny butthole opening eyes. I've never seen anything like it before in my life.
The dementia brain craves sugar.We learned this when my grandpa had Lewy Body Dementia. All he wanted were sweets. And, the hospice nurse told my mom that's just how it is. The dementia brain is working hard, it makes the patients suffering from it crave sweets in an attempt to get more energy to keep that busy brain fueled.
Mimi is the same. She has stage 4 dementia and her favorite food is ice cream. Ice cream in German is Eis (pronounced "Ice") and I often think of her as the Eis Queen. So, I made this painting in photoshop of Mimi with her favorite thing. We had it printed and hung it in our hallway. And, yes, she does eat other food. Meals that aren't full of sugar, she doesn't like those as much. Nothing about this record is real. Dementia is a trip.
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Hi, I'm Dana.I love art, design, vintage goods, healthy living, and weirdo fringe stuff.
I design wallpaper and textiles under the name Dolphin & Condor. I have my own line of pillows based on the periodic table called Element Pillows. I have an ugly Christmas sweater shop called My Ugly Sweater. I edit and sell vintage photos under the handle Photo Trade Co. And, so much more! Can you tell I enjoy working? Categories
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August 2024
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