(Page 1 of 3) Lona 2 from Betrayed By God by Tristis WardSUMMARY: Two background pieces that tell the story of Helena (and Lona's) struggle to be awake in the present. These scenes fit between other scenes of other characters already published.***
Georgia Abbot and her mother Helena Dumphy have sat through two hours of waiting, and examination while Dr. Foster attempts to explain a perfectly normal fact of life for them: Helena has dementia.
"People grow old," he says, mostly to Georgia. The two women occupy the chairs facing his desk, where Helena's file is open to his screening test. Helena is covering her eyes in his fairly shaded office. He has already turned out the overhead light to accommodate her. Now he has to force himself to accept her behaviou, so he is not unsympathetic to Georgia, sitting stiffly, nearly in tears from her frustration.
"But she won't eat! What am I going to do?"
"Helena," he says loudly. "Are you hungry?"
"Oh, yes, Doctor. Do you have any beets?"
"No. I'm sorry. I don't."
"Why doesn't she eat at mealtime?" Georgia asks him, her pitch rising gratingly.
"Why don't you eat your meals, Helena?"
"I don't eat meat."
"Since when?" Georgia raves, turning to her mother. To his waved hand she responds more calmly. "She's always eaten meat. I was raised on meat and potatoes."
"I see."
"And when I take the meat off the plate she still doesn't eat it."
Helena shudders in her chair. "Residue of meat," she mutters.
"Doc, what am I going to do? She has to eat meat! She needs protein!"
"You could try peanut butter," he offers, but shrugs as Helena makes a kid's face of disgust. So he turns in his chair and digs through his filing cabinet for a photocopied list of healthy vegetarian alternatives, which he usually offers up to yuppies and granolas who come through his office claiming their lifestyle offers the be-all of dietary choices.
"Here's a list of foods and a recommended serving chart for all age groups. It's the best I can offer you, Georgia. If she won't eat meat there is not much point in serving it to her." His voice raises in volume again. "But the two of you are going to have to find a compromise. Don't you think Helena?" When there is no response he offers this advice again, even louder. "Don't you think you two can work out a compromise Helena? So you're not working your poor daughter off her feet looking after you?"
Helena peers out from under her hand. "I am an agreeable person," she says.
"That's great," Dr. Foster agrees.
Georgia stands up and pulls upward on her mother's arm. She gets her out of the seat and to the door, but just as she is about to pass through, she sends her mother forward into the waiting room. "Sit down here for a second," she says to her. "I'll be right out."
When she turns back into the office, Georgia's stricken face is enough for Foster to immediately grasp the severity of her stress. "Can you see what I am up against here?"
"I see, Georgia. The tests are pretty clear. Your mother's short-term memory is very poor. She is confused about time and where she is, and I think even who she is. She belongs in a home."
Georgia sinks down into the chair she had occupied earlier and starts to cry.
"I'm sorry." He pauses, his eyebrows raised "But this isn't a surprise for you, is it?"
"No.
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