My DH is past being able to make adjustments to things. He frequently asks me what time it is and time seems confusing to him. He will look at the clock sometimes and can read the time but usually asks me.
My husband walked to Walmart almost every day for them to reset his watch. They never complained-probably drew lots to see who handled him that day. He once decided it was 11pm in the middle of the day. He grabbed the phone book and called many businesses to find some one to tell him he was right. So sad
I found a digital watch at Walmart for DH. It scrolls the day, month, year and time. It was around $12.00. It does a lot of other things to like being a stop watch and an alarm. I hope he doesn't try to use any of those functions, as then we will never get it back to normal. I think the Alzheimer's store has watches, also, but probably they cost more. Maryd
My husband has similar behavior. He says it's 12:05 when it's really 12:25. He resets his watch frequently, and his newer watch stopped working. He's wearing an old digital one. I hope he doesn't make any adjustments to that one.
oh, just wait until Daylight Savings ends! Now THAT's when there's fun with the clocks. Mine drove me crazy for a couple of years with the time telling - it was one of his first really obvious this-is-not-right symptoms. Now he pretty much ignores the time. Just wants to eat all the time (it's something he still remembers how to do!)
Oh my gosh, ROFLOL... Sorry, FayeBay, but that bit about the alarm clock was really too funny. To someone who wasn't scared half to death and then had to spend the rest of the night cleaning up, of course ...
My husband can not tell time either but he seems to have some sense of time (except in the middle of the night when he gets up, turns on all the lights and starts the coffee). His caregivers says that about an hour before I am due home from work he looks at the clock and they tell him what time it is and that I will be home in about an hour, he then spends that time looking out the window every few minutes until I come home. They all tell me that when he sees me pull in, his face lights up. Also at night, he goes to bed at 8:00. I tell him that I will be in in an hour or so. If I am not there by 9:30 he comes looking for me.
ehamilton, my husband does the same thing and has for a year now. Except most of the time I wake up when he gets out of bed in the middle of the night and bring him back to bed. It's getting impossible to do, so I'm having an open- with-a-key-only lock put on the bedroom door to keep him in the bedroom. He has gone outside and taken the trash cans to the curb, gotten the newspaper and put it in the recycle bin without either or us having read it, moved things around so that I have to play hide-and-seek before I have my coffee (because I had to make a fresh pot because he started the coffee pot at 4 and what was left was cold!) and he messed up the TV trying to play a DVD and using the wrong remotes (it took me 15 minutes to gather the four remotes and get the settings corrected many times- which is why we now have the "Harmony" one remote!).
My husband will stand on the carport waiting for me to come home, and if I'm late, he'll stand at the end of the driveway waiting! I get a big smile when he sees me. It makes my day.
My husband also goes to bed around 8 and if I am not back in bed with him at 10, will come into the den (clothesless) and clap his hands once (to get my attention and let me know it's time to come to bed). (He no longer can speak except the five words and doesn't remember his name nor mine.) I smile and say "I'll be right there" and that satisfies him - even if I'm another 30 minutes getting to bed. <grin>
As to the subject here - my husband can no longer tell time either by the old-fashion watch he has or the digital alarm clock. Numbers, money, time, dates and even days of the week are gone from his abilities.
I finally found something upbeat to post. Since my DH can no longer read a dial watch (must use digital) I took his two expensive watches in and had them done over for me. Luckily, the "in" thing in watches for women is oversized, some wear men's styles on purpose. Years ago I had given him a Cartier Tank Watch with a black band--I had a white one put on to make it a little snazzier. His Ebel just had to be made smaller. So I got two new watches with very little investment.
My DH lost the ability to tell time in early Stage 4. Every time he was wrong on his time, he would argue with me that I was wrong!!!! I gave lessons in telling time for a good while. He would not wear a digital watch. Now, he wears his wonderful watch...but can't read it.
Marilyn - that was a good idea about the watches, since they were expensive items. I gave my daughters 2 of my Mothers old gold watches to have a chain put on them as pendants. So far, I haven't got them finished yet as I was not sure how to have them done. Must put that on my to do list. Anyone else have anything like this done?
When my DH started having time issues i got him the watch that you push the button and it tells you the time. he loved it for a long time, then he just lost interest in time. now he likes the pocket watches on a chain not for time but one that has a rooster that crows when you open it:) lots of gadgets makes him happy...Divvi
My DH was obsessed. I mean OBSESSED with having his watch, and checking the time often. This was a behavior he had for most of this year. In just the past couple of weeks he has taken it off and forgotten it for up to 3 days. But once it comes to mind he freaks thinking it's been stolen. And its not even anything real fancy (LOL). I find him hiding it in a jacket pocket too, like its such a prized possession. He will tell me he is keeping it safe. But, he will again forget where he put it so I'll usually take it when he's not looking and put it in his basket on the counter. Most of the time when he starts asking what happened to his watch, or he tells me its been stolen I can usually direct him to the basket and he is quite relieved to find it there.
We had angels at WalMart. My husband was obsessed with time and kept "adjusting" his watch. Almost every day he would walk to WalMart where the dear people in the jewelry department would fix his watch. They probably drew straws when they saw him coming.
My DH's hobby since retirement was "repairing" old clocks - just loved it. Then he got so he couldn't do it and he gave most of them away. BUT -- he can still adjust his watch for date, year, time, etc. Even I can't do that!
Watches have been an issue for us. Advice to early stage spouses: buy several inexpensive, digital watches. Take them to a watchmaker and have him disable the alarm (may cost a couple of bucks). Otherwise, when your LO fiddles with the buttons, he'll set the alarm and you'll be awakend at 2 a.m., over and over. I bought several because DH was always losing one. When he stopped doing that, I had one set for Standard Time and one for Daylight Savings, and I give him the appropriate watch. That way I don't have to wrestle with setting it, or take it in to have the time changed.
My husband has never liked wearing a watch, and fortunately, that hasn't changed yet. So all I have to deal with is constantly answering him when he constantly asks what time it is.
My husband wore a watch for years and only took it off to sleep. One of the first things that happened even before he was diagnosed was that he fell and broke his watch. Before I could even think about getting another one for him, he lost the ability to tell time and didn't act like he missed it. Just recently, however, I got up one morning and found him sitting at the dining room table wearing my watch that I lay there every night. Even though I told him it was my watch and took it back I notice that every night as we get ready for bed he goes through the motions of taking his watch off even though he is not wearing one. Go figure.
I'm not sure this is the right thread for this ... but in looking for a suitable thread, I saw FayeBay's story again, and thought our newbies might like to read that, too.
Over on the AlzAssoc, there was a post I thought some of you might be interested in: "I bought a device for use with my toddlers that I plan to use with my LO and wanted to share here. Please know I am not trying to sell a product and I have NOTHING to gain even if someone looks into buying it, too. I am just wanting to share the idea. It is called a visual timer-- a dial that shows various amounts of red to show how 'much' or how 'little'time is left before an anticipated event. It is marketed as being used in nursing homes,too,so I thought someone here might find it useful. My toddlers respond to this very well!!!! I think some elderly will as well..... to help those who have difficulty reading clocks/watches any more, but can still understand visual cues..."
She didn't want to include a link because she was afraid the Assoc would think she was selling something ... so I googled.
Sunshyne, thanks for bringing the topic forward. I'd missed it before, I guess, but I laughed harder than I've laughed in a long time reading Fayebay's story. Sorry for the problem, but it WAS funny==to those looking in from the outside. When I learned my hb has dementia, I asked a friend whose hb had FLD for advice. She said the most important thing is "keep a sense of humor."
My LOW does not understand time at all anymore but she must wear one of her pretty watches every day. Sometimes several in one day. Most of them have dead batteries but that does not bother her a bit. I wish she did understand time a little but if I tell her we are going somewhere in a couple of hours, She goes and combs her hair and puts on lipstick and then forgets we are going somewhere. When it is nearly time to go, I tell her it is time to go and she goes into a anger fit because nobody told her we were going. She used to keep all clocks working last year but seems to have lost it all at once. Sundowning has never seemed to be a problem but it is time to get up when it starts getting light. I'd rather sleep a little longer. Oh well!!!