My mum used to look through me, like I was transparent and her ghostly expression scared me. But somehow, as her illness progressed it became normal and by the time she was bedbound and sleeping most of the time, I was very used to it. Never the less, it still hurt me to have lost that eye contact.
People say a sufferer goes into a "safe place" inside themselves, hence the trance like appearance, and if that's then case, and mum felt safe, then I could accept it better, no matter how sad.
A word of comfort though... six weeks before I lost my mum, she was able to communicate with me, with those very same blank eyes. I asked her to do a huge blink if the answer to my question was yes. She did it. She did it three times and there is no doubt whatsoever that she was there, with me.
Give it time, and always look for her. Don't give up. There will be days, I promise, where the glaze goes away, maybe for just a short time, but if she's like my mum was, she will slip in and out of her "safe place" and when she does, she'll want to be greeted with a smile... xxx
