Mom walks and walks and wants me to walk with her. Any advice?

I have been told repeatedly on this journey that you meet the dementia patient in their world and do not expect them to come to yours. I would be ecstatic if my Mom wanted to walk that much. It's very good physical activity and will help her to keep in shape. Physically tiring, she should /could sleep better. I have to assume that the walks are also exercising her senses and cognition. As far as the talking, you are aware that someday this will cease, yes?? This issue is kind of like the baby talking. You can't wait for that first word but soon after you wish them to be quiet. I would encourage any kind of healthy behavior, it's probably not bad for you either

Helpingmom, my Mom is walking and talking all the time as well and is in the final stage and on hospice, she is down to 95 pounds, it is amazing how this skin and bones lady keeps moving. She walks anywhere from 8 to 14 hours until she finally is too exhausted to move then sleeping anywhere from 4 to 36 hours. When she is in the bed that long, I turn her and keep her clean. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to walk during the day all the time, it can go up into the night.

As far as wanting me to walk with her, yes I do. When she goes into her room she tells me to stay out and closes the door on me, that happens most evenings. I have a camera in her room keeping an eye on her at those times. When she is in her room she likes to rearrange her stuffed animals, take her pillowcase off and sometimes her bed, constantly moving. I keep a large plate of fresh fruit, cookies, crackers, candy, etc. for her to snack on, replenish at all times, as she won’t stop to sit down and eat anymore along with juice or boost drink. I also “pretend” I am room service and give her a boost pudding or ice cream, at times, if I can get her to sit long enough. What she does eat she walks off, I just am trying to maintain at this point.

I am finding that the best time to get a meal in Mom is breakfast before the walking begins.

I went through sun downing a few years ago, this is not the same thing. Mom is relatively happy walking now with singing (although you can’t recognize the tune) and, at times, dancing. Before she seemed frantic with sun downing and wanting to go home as is usual with that stage.

I enjoy seeing her walking as each time she is sleeping for over 8 hours I wonder if she will walk again, but she is up again and at it once again. My Mom has life, it won’t be too long before she is in the bed permanently and no longer talking/singing, no longer able to get up and go! Enjoy this time but be careful so that the loved one does not fall.

In the Memory Care Unit , we would just let the resident walk and walk and walk. Sometimes we had to put up visual deterrents such as "Stop Signs" or "Do Not Enter" signs across doorways that we didn't want the resident to go through.

Does your Mom walk only in the house or do you take her for a walk outside on the sidewalk? How steady is your Mom while walking?

Maybe other people have some good suggestions.

I’m almost glad my mother can’t walk since she’d walk right into kitchen for the knife & then go stab me.

CaregiverL, I totally get it about the fear of sudden strength and the imagining a knife and unleashed hostility toward you. You are not crazy! When I worked in a nursing home as teenager, I was stunned when an extremely frail 90-something woman attacked me from the toilet. This woman couldn't walk and needed two people to get her into her wheelchair. She had hidden plastic dinnerware in her robe and knew how to use it. I couldn't believe her sudden strength and resolve as she popped up from the toilet, grasped me in a choke-hold, and slashed away. I was fortunate the second volunteer was in the room and called the nurses station for help. This was back in the 1970s when nursing home care was a bit less regulated and teenage volunteers even performed "physical therapy." I often wonder what subconscious rage and latent hormones lurk in all of us. And I marvel at the strength some extremely frail elders can inexplicably get.

Helpingmom1, the walking must contribute to your Mom's ability to sleep. I hope it allows you to sleep too! It also seems to me like the strength and resolve in your mom are some kind of miracle, but may be temporary? My Dad's caregiver brought in one of those small seated leg pumps (from a resale store) so that she could also sit for awhile back when Dad was quite active. Dad got quite bored with that, but it worked for awhile.

Can you listen to your favorite music on earphones and just nod and smile at her? Maybe use a foot step counter to count your steps and light weight hand weights and make the experience more productive for you?

Most of us would be overjoyed if our mother, our spouse or whomever it is we are caring for has the verve and energy to walk and talk.
Sometimes I get aggravated if i want to read the paper and my wife wants to get up out of her chair. She can’t walk without assistance and she has advanced Alzheimer’s. But then I have to make myself remember that someone of normal mind and health can take joy in reading, TV, a hobby, whatever. But my wife has none of that to fall back on. So, I get over my aggravation’s and take her hand and away we go.
It’s probably good for both of us at (79)😁

my mother is also in hospice care at home. She is down to 84 pounds. The walking has subsided due to lack of energy but boy does she try! I was meaning to ask others if this was normal-

Can you set up a track sort of thing? We have a house that you can walk in circles around. From the living room through the kitchen out the front door, around the covered porch ( three sides of the house) out to the detached garage, out through the garden, back to the porch and into the house. We have marked a walk way for a guide and are getting a dog. I don't want to walk but rescue dog might.

Three cheers and Hip Hip Hooray for an elder who CAN and DOES walk! That is wonderful!