Why I love what I do...

Like all other professionals; I have valleys, mountains, and plateaus in my profession. Over the past few months, I have been in a valley. My interpretation of a valley is when I am not as passionate or as selfless as I need to be in order to fully benefit my patients. I know this is life and reality, though, and I always come out of those slumps. Here's how I made it out of this one.:

I should preface this by saying explaining when I am with my patent's with Alzheimer's, I am always who they think or need me to be. If they think I am their neighbor from 4 years ago they have been dying to see, that's who I am. If I walk into a patients room for the first time and they say, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN AND WHERE IS MY CHECKBOOK?," I try to help solve their problem. Before I know it, they'll be asking me if I saw the boy at the candy shop and what I thought about the whole ordeal, and I will tell them what I thought of it. I am there to be in their reality, not for them to be in mine. I am there to make them comfortable in their last days, months, or years. I am not there to argue with them that they are in Tennessee when they think they are in Texas, where they were raised. The only time I argue is when they think I am the bad guy. That's when I say, "Well who in the world would do that to you???!! I will find them and make it right!"

Most people have very sad views on Alzheimer's. And why I feel it is no way to go, I do see the sweetness in it. One nursing home has a piece of art which contains 4 pictures of a woman aging from child hood to 90s. The caption says, "The sun rising is no less beautiful than the sun setting." Though I would never be able to piece these words together, it says what my heart feels.

I was working in a nursing facility in Memphis a few weeks back (where my car was totaled). I was rushing into the locked Alzheimer unit to help my patients with their breakfast meal. This is when I noticed a little patient whom I had never seen before toddling towards me. Her arms were opened and she effortfully pieced together a few words to indicate she felt she knew me. She said something along the lines of, "Well honey, there you are!" I said, "I know! I've missed you!" The next thing I knew, she had her arms around me and her head on my chest for about a minute. I kissed her on the forehead. When she pulled back, she had the sweetest expression that told me that was all she needed, and then toddled away. That, THAT, is why I do what I do.