All residents were recently moved to the other side of the center for renovations or so we were told. I was put with an individual who definitely has anger and other antisocial behvioral issues but at first I just chalked it up to dementia or Alzheimer's. The other day, he and I got into an argument after I came back from Physical Therapy learning how to properly use a wheelchair and he was sitting in the hall. We had a fire drill and everyone had to go into their rooms with the door shut. About three minutes later he starts backing up his wheelchair into my half of the room. A little background, when notices went out about the moves and the need to accomodate each other due to the smaller space, I purchased a bluetooth unit and headphones so I could hook up my TV and watch it via headphones so not to bother him as he sleeps a lot. Well back to the fire drill, I saw him backing and then going forward but was watching TV while sitting in my chair per PT orders. Now I know he knows how to use the call button to call the nurse, but he has absolutely no patience. So he keeps backing up right up til he is blocking my view of the TV. I finally take off my headphones and ask him what he needs. He wants the nurse. I told him, he has his call light and to use it, because him calling or me calling will be the same results then he wants to go outside. The doors are closed, I am not able to safely open them and esp. during a fire drill. He than wheels back to his bed but gets mad and starts to try and guilt me saying that I don't want to help him. At that point I just stopped arguing. Tonight I was trying to get to sleep, but his TV was blaring and his big ceiling lamp was on yet he was fast asleep. I didn't want to wake him up so I tried calling the nurse. I thought the light was working because I could see the bright red and it was taking an awfully long time. He woke up while I was waiting and I asked him to turn off his light at the very least. He just looked at me and said "crazy" and went back to sleep. He did this two more times and acknowledged me but had a very indignant look on his face and went back to sleep. So my question is...is this dementia or Alzheimer's or is this just very manipulative behavior? Thank you for reading through all of this.
Good luck.
I hope they can arrange a room change for you quickly - and put your roommate somewhere he doesn't bother anyone else! Do you expect to be in the facility for long? Are there other plans going forward?
I'd focus your energy on finding out why your call bell went unanswered... and try to spend as much time as possible apart from each other. I hope your rehab goes well and you will be home soon!
There's no excuse for such antisocial behavior, and it sounds like that more than like dementia.
When I had an appendectomy a few years ago, the first patient sharing the room was perfect, intelligent, knowledgeable, and friendly. The second obviously had dementia and was loud, uncooperative, refused meals 3 times and kept demanding something different, yelled, ridiculed staff, and kept the tv on even when she fell asleep.
She told staff and a relative different stories about how she was raped by multiple men. The story changed every time she repeated it.
She made totally inappropriate comments about her female "assets."
She even got out of bed and pulled up the dividing curtain to peek in and see what I was doing. Enough was enough. I couldn't get any rest with the commotion and racket.
First request for a room change was denied. Then I suggested someone come in and DC the IV or I'd do so myself as I was leaving AMA. Patients were moved around for about an hour and I finally got a different roommate.
(Edit: I've done this, in hospital. Had a male roommate who was sundowning, and I woke to find him standing up, near the end of my bed, staring at me with what looked like an aggressive posture. I didn't know anything about Alz. then - it freaked me out totally.)
(Another time I stayed at the hospital, about a year later, I had a double room shared with another woman.....she started talking the moment she heard I was awake and, honestly, never shut up!!! I missed my male roomies, lol.)
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