Maybe it was the cold weather down here in Florida. Or maybe the time of year.By Bob DeMarco
Dotty is full of energy and on the attack. She is attacking our kitchen and winning the war. ....
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Dotty can eat a five course meal and the first words out of her mouth are -- I'm hungry. I remember years ago I would think to myself at night, how can she eat so much food?
Next I started feeling her stomach. You could hit her stomach with a baseball bat and the bat would break.
Even when stuffed with food Dotty is still hungry. She never says, I have a stomach ache. She does say, my back hurts. No kidding. There isn't any room left for her lower spine.
Which brings us up to yesterday. I bought a whole cooked chicken. Once at home, I de-boned the chicken.
I took about a third or half of the chicken and put it on a tray. I took the rest, wrapped it up, and put it in the refrigerator.
The mistake? I left the tray of chicken out in plain sight. I remember thinking, that is too much chicken for dinner. Then thinking, I'll deal with it later.
About an hour went by and I went into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. I thought, where did I put that chicken? I looked on all the counter tops, I looked in the trash can, I even looked in the cabinets. As I was scratching my head I looked down into the sink and there was the tray. The chicken was gone.
Only two people live here. I didn't eat the chicken.
Just in case you are wondering. Dotty put her second dinner away with no problem about an hour after my discovery.
Unlike you and me, there is no known way to spoil Dotty's appetite. Dotty could scarf down six cookies, and then put away a steak and baked potato right afterwards -- no problem. I would have to cajole her to eat her spinach.
Today Dotty is off to a rip roaring start. Early this morning I gave her a nice bowl of Fiber One cereal with a half banana. I took my eyes off her to work on the blog and she helped herself to another bowl of cereal. If Dotty still knew how to cook it would have been a fried egg.
About an hour or so later, a neighbor called to see if I could lift a case of water out of her trunk and put it in her place. I said sure. Of course, I stopped to "yak" for a bit before I thought -- I better get back home and check on Dotty.
I went in. It looked like Dotty had not moved, and she wasn't all mad or disoriented. She didn't even accuse me of being gone for hours. As if there would be something wrong with that anyway.
I decided to go in the kitchen, get a cup of coffee, and get back to working on the blog. Unreal. Here was the pumpkin pie I had hidden sitting on the counter with a nice fat piece extracted. I have to admit. Perfect pie cut by Dotty. That sorta amazed me.
I went to check on Dotty and sure enough there was her empty plate -- pie gone. She was lying on the sofa and had about six lifesavers laying on top of her.
I'll skip over the various snacks that Dotty ate while all of the above was happening.
Dotty always has money, coins, and candy in her pockets. If you are like me you might be thinking, where is she going to spend money if she is in her bed robe?
Well according to Dotty, don't worry, she knows where she is going to spend it. Hmm. Maybe I should put in some vending machines. Hmm. Would definitely help me accomplish part of daily mission with Dotty.
Okay, its lunch time. If I am not around later it is because I had to run to the store.
Why?
Dotty ate us out of house and home.
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Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 2,101 articles with more than 272,100 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room