Mrs. Billingsley's Friend

 

I gave Mrs. Billingsley a chicken pot pie for supper.  Well, OK.  She said Eddie wanted supper too.   When I didn't put out a chicken pot pie for Eddie, Mrs. Billingsley was disturbed.  I had put the pot pie on a plate, and there was a little pie mold holding it.  She took the pot pie and cut it in half, putting half on the plate, and leaving half in the pie dish.  "There's yours, Eddie," she said, putting the plate on a little table.   For some reason she felt that I needed to start feeding Eddie, and making sure he had plenty to eat from now on.  "I'm not going to feed Eddie.  Eddie is a moocher.  He goes straight from eating here over to David's and gets them to give him another meal.  He does this all over the neighborhood."  

Just in case it isn't clear,  Eddie exists only in Mrs. Billingsley's imagination.  She also went on a train ride today.  

The flights of fancy Mrs. Billingsley has seem to happen later in the day, like 7:00 o'clock or so.  I think it's called "sundowners."  Why does sundowners happen in the elderly?  I could only speculate, but just guessing,  as many people age, the amount of glucose going to the brain becomes more erratic.   When the brain runs low on glucose, it just can't function properly.  Still,  lots of people have all sorts of metabolic problems and don't go for rides on imaginary trains or fantasy highways or have imaginary friends named Eddie, or little children that don't exist showing up in the evening.   Why does it happen late in the day?  I guess it has something to do with being tired.   Also, she does much better on a ketogenic diet.  I think I've been a slacker with the keto lately.  Sometimes I just don't bother.  Sometimes I haven't planned menus very well and haven't made sure to have the groceries I need on hand.  Lately Mrs. B has been on a binge of tomato sandwiches.  I've been giving her "keto" bread in the sandwiches,  but I suppose that isn't really working out.  Something isn't working, for sure.   Why did I do this?  I thought it might work and if not I would cut out the sandwiches.  However, you should hear her whining about the tomato sandwiches.  It's relentless.   Well, I guess I'll try to just give her sliced tomatoes instead of sandwiches.  Even the tomatoes are a question, because they are not carb free.  If you eat enough tomatoes you can sneak around the low carb limits.  I think she needs to be at around 10 grams or less of carbs.  Maybe I'll try 10 to 20 grams a day and see if things improve.