I’ve been agonizing over what to do regarding whether or not Etta has a roommate. She is so upset about the prospect of this! The fact of the matter is that she WILL have to share a room sooner or later. The benefit to doing it now is that I have some control over who occupies the other side of the room and believing that it will only get harder as time goes on.
Etta met her prospective roommate after I invited her to do this. I actually thought it would be helpful for her to see that this woman is not a threat or remotely going to be problematic for her. Unfortunately, when Etta met her she gasped and said, “Oh good God, that is just depressing!” Etta was referring to the fact that this woman is basically nonverbal and fairly unresponsive in general. While I saw this as a bonus because she wouldn’t be “yapping” at Etta or “irritating her day and night”, Etta was insulted by the thought that I found this woman to be compatible with her! (BIG SIGH)
There is one woman in the unit that Etta seems to like. She is the only person there that Etta allows into her room. Etta even lets her use her bathroom which is a huge privilege! I really like this woman. She is probably in her early 60’s and still has the ability to communicate clearly. Though hardly any of it makes sense to me, Etta doesn’t seem to think so. I proposed the idea of having this woman move into Etta’s room this morning when at the nursing home. Then, the nonverbal lady would move into her spot. At this point, the social worker is contacting her family to see if this would be acceptable to them. I pray this works out! Though Etta will absolutely be resistant to ANY roommate, I believe that she will adapt more quickly to her friend moving in than the other prospect. I know it seems ridiculous, but this has really caused me a great deal of stress. I don’t want to upset Etta but she just doesn’t understand all of the aspects I have to consider.
On a lighter note, Etta was tickled to tell me about her “men visitors”. These are the guys that come from my church regularly and visit her. She refers to one of them as the one who always wears a red shirt. Though this isn’t true, she has somehow labeled him as such. Etta beamed as she told me how he begged and begged her to come to hear the music up the hall. Etta said, “I wasn’t planning on going today because I had other things to do, but I had to or I think he would have cried!” She went on to say, "I believe that guy that wears the red is gonna try and marry me!" She said she would “never marry again” but that it “felt nice” to be sought after! LOL!
Etta met her prospective roommate after I invited her to do this. I actually thought it would be helpful for her to see that this woman is not a threat or remotely going to be problematic for her. Unfortunately, when Etta met her she gasped and said, “Oh good God, that is just depressing!” Etta was referring to the fact that this woman is basically nonverbal and fairly unresponsive in general. While I saw this as a bonus because she wouldn’t be “yapping” at Etta or “irritating her day and night”, Etta was insulted by the thought that I found this woman to be compatible with her! (BIG SIGH)
There is one woman in the unit that Etta seems to like. She is the only person there that Etta allows into her room. Etta even lets her use her bathroom which is a huge privilege! I really like this woman. She is probably in her early 60’s and still has the ability to communicate clearly. Though hardly any of it makes sense to me, Etta doesn’t seem to think so. I proposed the idea of having this woman move into Etta’s room this morning when at the nursing home. Then, the nonverbal lady would move into her spot. At this point, the social worker is contacting her family to see if this would be acceptable to them. I pray this works out! Though Etta will absolutely be resistant to ANY roommate, I believe that she will adapt more quickly to her friend moving in than the other prospect. I know it seems ridiculous, but this has really caused me a great deal of stress. I don’t want to upset Etta but she just doesn’t understand all of the aspects I have to consider.
On a lighter note, Etta was tickled to tell me about her “men visitors”. These are the guys that come from my church regularly and visit her. She refers to one of them as the one who always wears a red shirt. Though this isn’t true, she has somehow labeled him as such. Etta beamed as she told me how he begged and begged her to come to hear the music up the hall. Etta said, “I wasn’t planning on going today because I had other things to do, but I had to or I think he would have cried!” She went on to say, "I believe that guy that wears the red is gonna try and marry me!" She said she would “never marry again” but that it “felt nice” to be sought after! LOL!