Her level of lucidity varies wildly. She can usually be gotten to answer direct questions or follow direct commands. She can usually answer questions like, "What is your favorite color?," although it can take several tries to get an answer. She likes listening to me tell stories; during the third visit she dropped off to a nap while I was talking.
She recognizes people. She remembers things from day to day.
But, when she originates a subject or a sentence, she struggles, phoneme by phoneme, to get the words out. And most of the time they just don't make any sense. Most of the grammar is gone, too.
Quite often, she dissolves in angry tears, calling out "Hurry up!" or "NO... NO... NO..." or, one awful time, "Kill me! Kill me! I want to go to HELL!" Usually these outbursts are directed at the aide. She's crying or angry or both, a lot of the time. It's usually not clear why. The anger at caretakers goes way, way, back.
She isn't eating much. She can hold a fork or spoon, and will scoop things up, but she'll eat more if you feed it to her.
She's wearing diapers, although the aides try to get her to use the bathroom.
She clearly needs help to be fed, bathed, and clothed. The tranquilizers make it much easier for the staff to handle her. She can walk around; I think they're more afraid than they need to be about her falling.
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