I went to visit my parents today and I found myself basically guiding my mother to eat. She just kept freezing every step of the way, and I basically had to give her commands every step of the way for her to finish eating.
"Take the bread" "put it to your mouth" ....now chew.
No matter how many cues I give her...as soon as she is done one task. She just freezes up again.
Its scary. First time I've seen her this slow....I keep waiting for the episode to end....its been nearly half an hour now.
I spoon fed my mom for years before she went into the nursing home and usually helped with one meal daily after that, she just lost the initiative to eat.
This isn’t uncommon. The mind wants to move but the body cannot follow.
It is a progression of the disease and indeed is heartbreaking.
But how do I apply that to eating ?I'm just afraid that one day the freezing spell will happen whilst eating and she will choke.....
I almost wish the freezing happened with walking instead.
We already have a cleaner who helps with household chores and helps mobilize my mother, but with these freezing spells, we may need to get a trained nurse as well....sigh.
We don't have a neurologist here. And thanks to COVID-19 we haven't been able to travel to see a neurologist either....with how severe my Mom's Parkinson is.. travelling to see a Neurologist during the pandemic is almost guaranteed to do her in.
Sigh.....
There was another question on this site about Parkinson's and eating / chewing / swallowing. It had some good suggestions and answers.
Hopefully, it is a uti and she can get back to her normal self soon.