Mine has given up all hobbies and there is very little other than tv that he does anymore. I have recently tried a simple jigsaw puzzle that was suggested for me to try, no not a single piece in place... I bought him an Etch a Sketch and he pittled with it once and that was it. He won't try coloring or anything like that. I have gotten him to look through books or magazines but that and tv are about all inside other than shadow me all the time. Outside he will walk up the drive and around the yard and pick up rocks, he thinks is like gold to everyone he presents one to. So what does your loved one do during the day??
My husband also does very little during the day. He paces a lot. He walks thru the house, out the door, stands in the drive way looking up and down the street, back in the house, out the back door, picks up leaves, then back in the house........on and on. He does still like to walk when the weather is warm and I must admit, I have been a little nervous about that b/c I still work and up until recently have not had anyone with him on a regular basis. I now have a sitter/housekeeper (at least he thinks she is a housekeeper) and feel much better about leaving him each day.
He is in stage 6. The closest daycare is about 22 miles away so not sure it would be worth it for the trip. I have a sitter that comes once about every two to three weeks and she seems to entertain him better than me. Now he does have home health coming out once a week to check him and PT to help him with his balance as he is stumbling around getting out of the shower and shuffling his feet more.
awrogers , mine paces alot too. I am glad you have someone with him , what stage is he in?? I have to quitwork about 3 yrs ago to be at home with mine 24/7
My wife just sits in her chair and dozes off if nothing is going on. She will join me in watching TV or Netflix movies, but even then goes to sleep. She does not initiate any activity. I'm not sure what she does at day care, but I know they try to keep her active. A year ago we would take walks around this retirement community, but now I am afraid to try much walking as she is getting so unsteady and just shuffles. I'm still trying, with no success, to find something to activate her.
I know marsh it is so hard.. The home health wants me to keep his mind active, well easier said than done. Before long I may have as many rocks on the inside as the outside. I even found one in the washing machine today. Sure it must have been in a pocket. We have a dirt drive with rocks (minus quite a few now) so I am hoping it wont wash away from lack of the rocks that helped sustain it.
decblu, my husband is approaching stage 6, but it is strange b/c even with all his "challenges", he seems to have good insight at times. That makes it more difficult, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles with the guilt of feeling like I'm taking away all his rights! Unfortunately, quitting work is not an option for me, so I have to do the best I can with help from sitters and my sweet 84 year old mother. We have 3 daughters also, but 2 of the 3 do not live near us, and the other one has a job and responsibilities of her own.
decblu, maybe if you are in town go to a hobby shop and buy a bag of those colored rocks and a bag of big cat eyed marbles? maybe that would get his attention.? and a plastic toolbox i know my DH loved to open close all day long and i kept 'things' in it for him to discover in it. guy things..just an idea.. my DH is still into big silve rdollars -hah. i bought a dozen of them and he rattles them in his pocket all day. loves them! divvi
My LW is 73 and in stage #6 but moving in to #7. She still likes to clean up in kitchen but washes dishes with a paper towem or kleenex and puts them away. I try to catch it before she goes to far and put them in deishwasher. But sometimes she takes them out of Dishwasher and cleans them by hand. No hot water or soap. Can not set table or help with any food preperation. She will clean the floor with towells, kleenix or iknapkins, no soap. Picks up trash cans from around the house, goes through them and takes out old advertisements, envelopes, boxes, etc and carries them around or shows them to me. Sometimes goes through the compactor and takes out any interesting thing. Tries to select clothes out of closet but usually just looks and holdup to light. Has trouble with this. Does walk around the house and now that it is getting warmer goes out sometime. Can no longer feed birds or clean out little water fountain. Can not retrieve anything or help with getting anything but does try. Loves for me to drive her anywhere. Loves movies, at theater and at home. Likes to watch Regis and Kelly but can not work the remote controllers. She does like to talk. Wish I could understand her!!!!!
My husband will put anything in his mouth like dominoes or poker chips so be very careful what you give him. Sorting things like socks sometimes works-sometimes not
Mine carries around a battery powered toothbrush that he turns off and on all the time. He watches movies on TV but will only tolerate a few TV shows. He'll get up and pace from the front door to the back door or pick up a piece of lint (or probably dog hair) on the carpet and put it in the trash. He can't even make the bed any more. And this morning he couldn't tie his shoes!!!! And he put on two T shirts. Then took one off. Then put it back on. Then took it off. He took his socks out of his sock drawer a pair at a time and placed them meticulously lined up at the foot of the bed. Then got another pair and did the same thing. After the fourth pair, he put the fifth pair on the towel rack in the bathroom. <grin>
mary i am glad we found him a nice toy... battery toothbrushes. i buy em by the dozen. my DH walks round with one in each pocket buzzing all day long. i figure its a small price for happiness. he sleeps and puts it in the crook of his neck. it lulls him to sleep like a baby.:)i have to turn them off after hes sleeping or the humming keeps me awake!divvi
My husband was an avid golfer, so after breakfast he goes into the garage to line his clubs up & down...over & over again. Comes in for lunch, back out to the garage to start all over again. Around 1:00 comes in for a 3 hour nap, then back into the garage to work on his clubs again. Most of the time we eat out...I need the conversation. After we come home he goes back into the garage to start the routine over until I get him to take a shower. He would go back out after his shower, however, I have convinced him not too. He will watch a little T.V. but mostly checks his wallet & searches in the top drawer of his chest for something that is never found.
My husband is in early stage 6. We go out every day and get him 5 newspapers, and one delivered, for a total of 6. Does he actually read them? I'm not sure, but he still can read. He does look at them, pretty much turning every page. He takes long walks. I can't go with him, but he has been doing this ever since the start of his current long plateau which started in May 08 - so almost a year now - and always comes home on his own. He watches some TV, some with me, but some without as well. A year ago the TV was on all day long and drove me nuts because he watched the same programs over and over and over again. Now it isn't on unless he really wants to watch.
There have been some small changes for the worst over the last year. He can still use the remote, but not as well as a year ago. And the reading is getting worse. And his handwriting is also getting worse. The one thing that is left from the cognitive therapy he was doing before we got the diagnosis is copying the day and date down into a notebook every day. I'm sure that is why he can still sign his name.
He eats breakfast about 3 times, falls asleep, asks odd questions, like "should I put mayonnaise on this banana'? Sometimes he thinks he should see a doctor for his "condition". He can't remember we were at the doctor twice last week, one visit was over 4 hours!!! Doesn't really like TV that much anymore. He just eats and sleeps and drives me a little crazy!
He sits in his chair and eats from a tray. Hates to eat at a table. He dozes or stares out a window. If I give him the paper in the morning before I see it, I can always find it in his waste basket next to his chair. He drools, and in spite of a full box of tissues on his end table, wipes his nose on his polo shirt. He can barely walk...due to compression fractures in his spine and a broken hip. He scoots and shuffles his feet. Has no depth perception. Refuses all walking aids.
Our day: Awake around 6:00 a.m.; have coffee together in bed. I go to work M-W-F from about 8:15 to 9:30; so I get dressed, eat breakfast; He stays in bed until around 7:30; gets up, shaves, gets dressed; takes dog out for walk. I leave when he return around 8:15. he fixes his cereal, reads paper; does crosswords until I return. Then he's ready to GO OUT - ANYWHERE. So, off to either grocery store or Lowes for awhile. He gets lost so have to keep an eye on him. Come home, fix lunch. Then he settles down with his laptop for a game of golf, hearts, whatever. I'm on my own during that time (not away from home). turns TV on around 4:00 and watches NCIS while I'm fixing dinner. Eat around 6. He clears the table, takes dog out for walk again, then back to TV. I'm on the computer normally at this site! He comes up to bed around 8:00. Gets in bed but watches TV for another hour or so - I do whatever. Lights off around 10-10:30- sleeps well at night.
This all sounds pretty normal almost, doesn't it???? I forgot to mention in between all this activity, the hundreds of questions he repeatedly asks me! You gotta love him.
I'm quite happy to have mine watch tv, it keeps him from roaming around. He likes the netflix movies I get, now is anticipating them.. and I'm always happy to have the comedy series that have several to a dvd. He can't walk safely without a walker (not to say he doesn't try). I help with every article of clothing except the sock on his right foot and his outdoor jacket which usually goes on over the indoor jacket over the knit shirt over the t-shirt. All of which I help with. He loves to eat, and still eats carefully and meticulously, cutting up an apple and an orange and eating everything but the peel. He WILL get out an apple or orange to eat during the day as well as at mealtime, and carefully also butters bread with mustard, cuts it into quarters and then leaves it, only sometimes eating it. This morning, as at the neuro last week, he could not tell me his name, the state or the country he lives in. But he knew MY name (surprise!) Every morning he showers, carefully using the grab bars to get into the tub, running the water until it's cold, before emerging.
If we are home all day (like today) he sleeps late, gets himself dressed, reads the paper, might go on the treadmill if he's in the mood, watches TV and naps. Usually he asks me if he can help when I'm preparing dinner, will fold the laundry or vacuum if I ask him to. He will clean up the dishes if I ask, and sometimes just gets up and does it. He likes movies and dramas on TV; I keep CNN on constantly--it started during the election campaigns--he was very interested in it. Then with the economy tanking, that became an interesting subject for him to watch on CNN or CNBC--still has the interest in finance (former CPA). When we're out socially, he can discuss current events and makes sense. Like Vickie said above, it does sound normal!
You're so lucky Marilyn. and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. My DH was President of a major chemical company, and an active political person - He loved sports and we rarely missed a game or playoff, no matter where it was. The National Basketball Championships are on TV now, and an ACC school, North Carolina is in the playoff. He knew their former coach,Dean Smith. He is totally disinterested and I found myself trying to MAKE him watch it. It's rediculous...I was actually getting upset with him because he wasn't interested in the game. How easy is is to step out of the real world and try to drag him back into our former world. What's wrong with ME???????????????
I know I'm lucky. I try to focus on what he still can do, rather than the huge losses. But it's so strange--you read the above--then, remember, he was dismissed from daycare 3 days ago for acting like a 5-year old. It's still hard to get my brain around it emotionally--intellectually, of course, I understand it.
I got off the subject. He was soooooooo involved in politics and economics. He was the Chief Economic Officer in the Jamaican Embassy (U.S.State Department). Maybe it's a blessing that he doesn't know what is going on with world economics today. If he had (say) heart disease instead of AD, he'd be so stressed he'd be on a heart monitor 24/7.
I wonder if there is such a thing as "alternative dementia day care"....similar to the Alternative Schools they send discipline problem students to? :-)
Good one, Nancy! Yes, he's the "bad boy" of the class--the daycare just wants me to drug him. The disease is so weird--he was always such a compassionate person--he is still on the board of a nonprofit social service agency after over 30 yrs of involvement--yet now, he has no tolerance for people in more advanced stages of the disease.
He eat and sits in his recliner and watches CNN or whatever he happens to push on the remote. Today, he came with me for my podiatrist appointment. When we pulled up he said what are we doing here. If I leave the room he looks for me.