Going to the hospital
Last week I took mom to the hospital. That's a difficult job. So much waiting is hard on her. Add to that unfamiliar and scary surroundings and you have a recipe for confusion.
We got to the ER and were immediately taken back. Mom's heart rate had dipped dangerously low. She was hooked up to monitoring equipment and an IV; then we were left alone. After about a half hour mom started commenting on how no one had come to see her. She asked, "Do they even know we're here?" This comment notwithstanding all of the tubes and wires connected to her. Then she started in on complaining that she had been there all day and they had not brought her anything to eat. She had eaten lunch just before we went to the hospital, about an hour before.
The strangest thing was her repeated questions about whether I had given them her real name. She whispered to me, "I don't have any money to pay for this. Did you give them my real name." When i responded that I had, she said, "Why did you do that?" Then she asked if the cops were coming after me and if we could sneak out without paying. I don't remember how she said it, but she thought I was a criminal and wanted by the police. It was weird.
They sent us out with a 24 hour heart monitor. Yeah, right. I was to pick it up the next day. When I got there, she already had it off. I learned later that it didn't last two hours on her. As soon as she was alone with dad, she took it off.
She has good days and bad. With structured routine, her days are better. Going to the doctor or hospital always throws her off.