Wolf, I had to smile when I read about your DW opening the car door next to yours. My DH almost did that a couple times, but I caught him before he did it. When we approach our van I always have to point to the passengers side so he knows where to get in. Today he almost got in the vehicle next to ours. Wouldn't have been so bad but our 10 year lod grandson was with us. Luckily he knows that PopPop has memory problems & he helps whenever he sees that PopPop needs help.
Heck, I had this happen many years ago and it was me who did it. Charlie stopped outside little store on the way home from work for me to run in and get a loaf of bread. I came out of the store and jumped into what looked like our car. I had fastened my seat belt and settled in before I looked up to say something to Charlie only to see a completely strange man looking back at me with a small smile on his face. Meanwhile in the car next to us sat Charlie laughing his butt off.
ehamilton, something like that happened to me, too. I rode in a carpool. After work, I came out of the building and got into what I thought was the carpool vehicle. I looked over at the driver and said, "You're not Wayne!!"
I sit here at the computer and play spider solitaire (addiction incurred may I add from no fault of my own but due to some unscrupulous posters on this site) and dh sits behind me watching the cards move across the screen. When I win a game, fireworks explode on the screen and big letters appear saying "YOU WON!"
DH points at the screen, giggles and says, "Hey, it says you lost!" I protest and pretend to be indignant and he gets a big kick out of it. I get a big kick out of the fact that he's making a joke. So a good time is had by all.
This morning my husband said, "I don't know what you mean, put on my slippers". I thought, oh dear, he's slipping again.
Tonite I heard him muttering after I'd closed the door on him and I peeked in to see what the matter was. Nothing was. He said, "Are you eavesdropping?" Oh, dear, he's NOT slipping!
Jeannette, I apologize for Spider. I don't seem to be able to get through a day without winning a game. Or at least trying.
I might have told this one before, but when my husband wasn't bad, we were at motor vehicles. His back hurt so I told him to go sit in the car. I came out, and he was not in the car.... I looked to my right at the passenger seat.... several cars to my right, there he was sitting. We were driving a sedan at that time, he found himself a nice big SUV to sit in. (lol)... I went to get him and asked why he was there.... He thought it was ours.
Briegull, was it really you? I'm just kidding of course. I am having lots of fun with it and am letting the addiction take its course as I know it will. Just wait till I get out the jigsaw puzzles again! Another addiction a couple years ago was the pinball machine (Dracula) which I can't play now because it's upstairs. I guess I could play on daycare days, now that's an idea.
(Jeannette, it hasn't taken its course with me! I've had a mac for a couple of years now, almost, and I got the PC/Windows emulation so I could play Spider! (and use Photoshop...). I was addicted then and I am still.
DH has never had a problem with putting food away in the refrigerator or the freezer - until this week! I have found lettuce, cabbage, shredded cheese, container of cottage cheese, tomatoes, apples, grapes in the freezer compartment! I thought I was losing my mind when I couldn't find something I was looking for. I took all of them out of the freezer and showed them to him and told him they went in the refrigerator side - not the freezer side. He replied, " Well, I don't see why not, they will last longer in the freezer."
My DH doesn't know the difference between the frig & the freezer anymore. Our freezer is crammed full so he usually can't fit anything in there. However I can't tell you how often I find the ice cream in the frig.
Vickie, you will have to really start watching....I remember once I gave my husband a bag of meat and frozen items to put in the downstairs freezer...well, I went down two days later and there were all the groceries....just in the bag lying right in front of the freezer. That was just the start....I hate to think of how much money I wasted having to throw food away.
I would venture to say each and every one of us have found similar misplaced groceries. I recall a gallon of ice cream on a top shelf in the pantry. Talk about a MESS!!!!! Lettuce in the freezer, Milk beneath the sink...I can match you item for item. What was so sad was that he truly thought he was "helping me". You all won't believe it now...but I swear I had forgotten about him doing this!!.... He died in November, and gradually, these incidents fade away into the far back corner of your mind. I can remember how totally exasperated I would be over these incidents....and would often go to the bathroom and literally SCREAM into a folded bathtowel..(so he wouldn't hear me!).
How comforting to know my hb competes well w/other spouses in "helping me" put away food or just helping himself to ice cream and putting the container anyplace. I know longer let him "help" w/o supervision which he does not like, but....no wonder he enjoys his "dementia gatherings" w/the boys. Everyone is fine there, and no one bosses him.
The other day my daughter was getting ready to mow the yard. This is her first year mowing. My DH and her father told her you needed to prime the mower, he told her to push the little button 32 times. On the front of the mower it has a picture with the number 3 on it. When I said it was 3 he said he always did it 32 times. And I have found the ice cream in the frig. Was able to save it had not been in there long.
Had a bad week this week, every thing seems to be breaking. I was talking to my mom tonight and she said she was saying prayers for me. Then she said they should "kick in soon":) She made me laugh, and that was what I needed.
Terry, that is funny and my husband was a lot easier going and much more spontaneous during the early stages. I think he was relaxed and relieved....he had to stop working at 50, didn't have any responsibilites around the house as I took over all that and all he had to do was just sit back and have fun. We did a lot of stuff and had a new grandson to enjoy....we did that for as long as we could. My daughter and I still crack up at some of the stuff that would come out of his mouth. Weird, that's a good word for it.....
Sandi, That sounds like my DH now. He seems to be happier now than ever before. I don't think I posted this yet, A few weeks after his dx, we were talking. My DH asked me if he died would I get remarried? I thought a bit and said no. After a few more moments my DH said he would get remarried if I died. I just smiled inside. My DH has a good humor about things right now. I hate to see that go, he is easier to live with now than he has been the last 10 years. I now think he had this coming on the last 10 years. Also the other day I was having a bad, bad, day and was in the kitchen making dinner. My DH came up behind me and put his arms around me for just a moment. It made me melt. He would not have done that before the dx.
This is SO true. Funnier, more relaxed, for quite some time. Several people here have commented (and this thread shows) that their spouse IS relaxed - admittedly sometimes it takes medication adjustments. I think the one blessing of Alz for them is that they aren't unhappy after a point. That said, my husband had a bad dream last night and woke up very anxious this morning. Like a child.
Yes, briegull, the dreams stay with them. but last night, my husband said he had decided that we would stay here. (we've been here 11 years) I agreed that it would be a good idea. he said, we'll just tell the owners we're not leaving. Well you just did.
I don't know if it was a hallucination or wishful thinking.But the other day my husband said that when he went down to the barn there was a "Buck naked girl" in the barn and 3 more coming down the driveway.We had a good laugh,we live in Mennonite country and the girls here even wear dresses to go swimming.Our DIL got a big kick out of it.What's next?
The other day (Thurs.) I made Chicken and spareribs for dinner along with potatos and coleslaw. I brought dinner in the living room and sat with DW to eat. She kept trying to leave to see here "little girl" (imaginary) so finally I said if you have to go see here hurry back before your dinner gets cold. About 5 miniutes latter she called for me to come in the kitchen which I reluctantly did. When I entered the kitchen she said "how come I didn't know about this food and when am I going to get some" Alrighty then.
NancyB*....SCREAMING INTO A TOWEL!!!!! I can't tell you how many times I've actually done that over so MANY YEARS when the kid were growing up!! YES, I DO believe it all started THAT long ago!
I wasn't as quiet as you lol. I went into the woods with old dinner plates in hand.... screamed for all I was worth and threw the plates as hard as I could against the trees. Something about the act of throwing them and listening to them break soothed me.
My DH came into the kitchen this morning and said " I am Garabaldi the great Italian flying ass..I mean Ace!". Yesterday he came out and announced ( since the sun was up for a change) " Ah what a beautiful day to plot the downfall of International Communism."
There are just so many similarities in all of these stories. My DH puts a box of granola bars in his tool box. He put new shoelaces in the cupboard with Noche's food. He couldn't find his yellow toothbrush. Fortunately, I had some new ones. I gave him a nice new green one. We can't find that one either. Now he's using a red one--I'm monitoring it. But the scariest thing--I take care of all of his meds. I fill up those little boxes (for 2x a day) every week. I can tell at a glance if he needs his am pills or his pm pills. I'm VERY caryful about this. The other day--pills were missing from both am and pm. He didn't know if he took them or not. I was scared to give him any more in case he'd already taken them. But I was afraid not to give him any in case it made him regress. I finally called the doctor and his nurse told me I'd have to be more careful. I smiled sweetly and said thank you. (ps) I just didn't give him any pills that day.)
Mawzy, I don't know about you, but I'm very tired of having people tell me what I should do! If I need help, my DH is quite capable of telling me. And he does frequently, especially when I'm driving.
Today I bought 4 containers with different color tops to dispense DH meds each day. I also have 2 smaller ones for the 2 optional single doses he may or may not need. Times was when even with multiple Rxs and doses all I had to take care of was refilling. Now his 4 basic dose times add up to 29 pills, and if it's the 10 days over the Full Moon there's an addiional 16, for sure, with an added 1-4 if needed. That's not including the 2 optional ones mentioned above. This is after we reduced the number of Rxs he's on. It would help if the one came in other sizes besides 50 and 250 mgs. He takes 150mg 4 times a day. I so love playing Pharmacist each Sat. morning.
Our "jobs": Pharmacist Doctor (at times) Nurse Chef Driver Car Maintenance Financial/Investment Manager, Bookkeeper, Accountant Personal Business Manager Personal and food shopper Housekeeper House Maintenance Activities/ Social Director Travel Agent (if we're lucky) Laundress Gardener Supervisor (of spouse, household employees, daycare or long-term care facility staff)
And some of us have paying jobs, to boot. No wonder it's tiring!
My LO for who knows how long would take the pills as I dispensed them drink a slug of water an walk away,little did I know or suspect that she would walk into another room an spit the damn things out,no wonder she went down hill so fast.
MarilyninMD....CAN I USE YOUR LIST OF JOB FUNCTIONS ON MY CV OR BUSINESS CARD??!! I love it! Reminds me of a business card a friend of mine (long ago) had. She and her husband owned a small family farm here in the valley. It had the farm name and thiers and the line, " Apples, Appaloosas and BOYS". (They were blessed with six boys)
DH had a doctor's appointment this afternoon, went very well, no major problems, but DH did mention to him that "I don't think I will be around very much longer". Anyway, we got home and were having our glass of wine and DH asked me if I new what I would do after he died. I told him I really didn't know yet. He said, " I just want you to know that it's okay if you get re-married, but you deserve a really good guy, like me, so just make sure you pick the right one!" I wish I could have taped this!
Just a few moments ago he came out of the bathroom and asked me if I was still having periods!!! Don't know where that came from. I told him no, and he said " well if you do, just let me know and I'll help you all I can!"
I went to see DH in the care facility and he had a big bruise on his hand ,I said Have you been falling ,he said no have you ?.I said I fell in love with you and he said did it last , we have been married over 50 years so it certainly did last lol , rosie
I visted my LO today an took some pics of friends from Fla that had just got married the bride was 75,wife looked them over good an then asked I wonder if she had to get married?THey are certainly in a differant world
Good one, ol don, yes they are in a different world.
Yesterday from the time he awoke this is what I got - all day long:
You make the best coffee in the world; You BAKE the best cereal in the world; You buy the best food in the world (lunch time); You make the best iced tea in the world; Your flowers are the prettiest in the world; You grill the best steaks in the world (they weren't- they were tough-LOL); You BAKE the best ice cream in the world.
He was on a roll - only the subjects were changed. Most all was food related. He is eating like a pig right now and is gaining weight - and I don't like that, but I went through the losing weight thing when he wouldn't eat - so I don't know.
Anyway, it was nice to be "the best" at anything yesterday.
Tonight we were in a restaurant and for the first time, I took my husband into the ladies room with me. We used the handicapped stall, and when we came out, he saw himself in the mirror and said "How are you doing?" I acted like nothing was unusual with this. Then, when we left the bathroom, we had to wait for our table. While waiting, DH told me that he had seen someone he knew in the restaurant (I guess it was "the guy" he saw in the mirror)!
Yesterday, after picking my husband up from daycare, we stopped for frozen yoghurt. They had his favorite combo, chocolate/peanut butter. As we were enjoying our treat, he said something he has always said over the years "You know, I only take you to the nicest places." That made me smile--the only difference is, now it's TCBY (yoghurt shop)!
awwwwwwwwwwww Marilyn, How sweet was that. He had to be enjoying hisPB/choc cone and he felt that this just had to be a ' really good place'... and since he felt so happy to be there, he just KNEW you'd be happy too. Fess up now,..what kind of cone did YOU order. I loved the vanilla chocolate swirl. nancy
I just had an interesting experience. I decided to try "SHEN", which involves the therapist putting her hands on me in various places. Since I had no one to watch my wife, she came with me. About half way through the session she got up, came over to me and started rubbing my arms, shoulders, and chest. It was as though she were trying to take over from the therapist.