JOAN’S BLOG – TUE/WED., JUNE 19/20, 2012 – REPETITION AGAIN!

Here is what is currently driving me crazy about my husband’s Alzheimer’s Disease. Oh, the list is long, but today it is the nature of the repetition. We are all too familiar with the repetitive questions.  Anyone who has not experienced it, cannot imagine the frustration of listening to – “What are we doing tomorrow?” – five times in one hour.

This is an odd disease to be sure, but what I am finding lately is a peculiarity that is making me scratch my head in wonderment. Not only does my husband ask the same questions every day, at least 3 times a day, but he asks them USING THE EXACT SAME WORDS each time, and he responds to my answers USING THE EXACT SAME WORDS each time. I must ask – How does someone whose memory is so poor that he needs to ask the same questions repeatedly because he cannot recall that he asked them, manage to use the same words each time????

This is a small sample of what goes on in my house on a daily basis:

Sid: (In a low, sad voice) – Mother’s Day is before Father’s Day, isn’t it? I missed Mother’s Day. I didn’t get you a card. I’m sorry.

Joan: No, you didn’t miss it. I took you to CVS to get me a card for Mother’s Day.

Sid: Oh, you did? That’s good. I wouldn’t want to miss it. I love you too much.

Joan: No problem. You bought me a card.

The next day:

Sid: (In a low, sad voice) - Mother’s Day is before Father’s Day, isn’t it? I missed Mother’s Day. I didn’t get you a card. I’m sorry.

After my answer that was similar (not exact) to the one above, he said:

Sid: Oh, you did? That’s good. I wouldn’t want to miss it. I love you too much.

How is this possible? If he cannot remember that he asked the question, how does he ask it again using the same words?

Another example:

Dominoes Day at my house. Sid and his 4 other AD buddies (none of whom is as bad off as he is) are sitting at the table setting up the game. Sid asks the same question using the same words as he did the week before:

Sid: Joan, where is the little plastic piece that goes in the middle? What happened to it? Why don’t I have it? Can you order another one?

Joan: I don’t know. It’s lost. Same as it was last week ( Sorry, I’m not above sarcasm).  Stop worrying about it. Here’s a round coaster – it will work fine. (The same coaster I gave him the week before.)

Sid: But what happened to it? Where is it? Can you order another one?

Joan: STOP OBSESSING OVER IT!

An hour later, as I am leaving to play Mahjong across the street, he asks:

Joan, where is the little plastic piece that goes in the middle? What happened to it? Why don’t I have it? Can you order another one?

At this point, even his buddies know he has already asked that question, and one of them tells him it is lost, and the coaster serves the same purpose. He, of course, says it without the sarcasm. He is a lot nicer than I am.

Yes, the repetitive questions try what little is left of my patience to the breaking point, but their exactness gives me comic relief. It does make you wonder about the intricacies of the brain, doesn’t it?

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The Alzheimer Spouse LLC
2012 All Rights Reserved

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