Yesterday afternoon I visited a 91- year- old friend at one of Nashville’s most upscale, prestigious  nursing homes.

I was shocked to hear her tell the story of being traumatized by an Alzheimer’s patient.

A man from across the hall would wander into her room, search through her things, and try to make her hold the water pitcher.

My friend is bedridden and very weak and cannot hold the pitcher.

She complained about him to the staff but  it took two months for the problem to be solved.  Meanwhile she was very scared of him.

The man also frightened other nursing home residents on a daily basis.

One solution the home came up with was to tack up orange mesh in front the  door. 

It is generally believed Alzheimer’s patients will not cross this orange mesh. 

That turned out to be true, but they put it over my friend’s door.

At lease one of her regular visitors was afraid to go in, not because of Alzheimer’s, but because the person thought  it meant she was contagious.

In hearing her story we thought this matter should have been cleared up much sooner than it was.

The man was finally admitted to the Alzheimer’s section of the home.  His family had not wanted to put  him there before they had to, or that was the rumor going around.

Our question is why did it take so long and why was it politically correct to respect the man’s family’s wishes and not those of the other  nursing home residents?

This incident  shows some of the problems helpless elderly people have to deal with when they don’t have advocates. 

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