Why did I talk so much about the mother raccoon and her two babies that visited our deck the other night???  I should have known better.  For the last hour Mary Ann has been seeing a baby raccoon or two under the bed, on the side of the bed, in the bed all around her.  It may be a very long night.

Last night was not a good one.  It was very late before she finally settled.  It pretty much never fails that the day after a difficult night, the hallucinations ramp up in activity.

I feel pretty helpless when this happens.  There is nothing I can say to convince her that they aren’t there.  I know the rule is not to tell the person seeing the hallucinations that they aren’t real.  I have searched for them in the covers and under the bed and around her back as she lay in bed, assuring her that they are not there.  If I agree that they are there, there is no hope of her getting any sleep.  I am watching her on the monitor and will head in to reassure her whenever she appears to be bothered by the….whoops, there she goes.

When I got to the bedroom, she asked if the people (there were no people) had left yet, used the commode, while she holding the corner of the sheet she said she hated the fabric hanging there, she got back into bed and told me she was going to send the raccoons over to my bed.  I encouraged her to do so…back to the bedroom again.  This time a Tums was needed.

I have read hundreds of posts from those in the Lewy Body Dementia Spouses group.  It is pretty unsettling to read how many who have LBD (Mary Ann’s Parkinson’s Disease Dementia is a dementia with Lewy Bodies) have a much worse problem with hallucinations.  I don’t relish the time when her hallucinations become worse and more constant, assuming that happens.  Given recent experience, it appears likely that it will happen.

If these hallucinations don’t subside in a couple of days, I will phone the Neurologist to see about increasing the Seroquel.  There are some scary risks that come with Seroquel, but so far she has not had problems with it.

For tonight’s challenge, I am heading off to bed early to see if my presence will help. She has been quiet for a while.  Hopefully she will get a good night’s sleep.  Tomorrow is another day.  Maybe the raccoons will have left the bedroom and returned to the deck.

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