My DH has begun having problems finding his way around in our home. We actually live in only a part of it because that has been easier so he only had to navigate between kitchen, bath, hallway, bedroom and den. Yesterday he stood in the hallway looking around and had no idea where the bath or the bedroom were. Any of you dealt with this? Do you try to "mark" the rooms? We keep a light on in the hallway, bedroom and bath. Any thoughts on how I might help him other than just physically lead him where he needs to go? Thanks!
patsy, i have seen it vary from day to day whether DH knows the layout of the house. we also only use the top floor of kitchen, living room, and master bedroom and so far so good he can find his way back and forth most of the times
if he can still read you may try to put up a large sign on the bathroom door? if not you will need to stay vigilant if hes looking for the bathroom as thats when they start peeing in any corner if they cant find it. divvi
My DW generally stays wherever I put her. I have to lead her from room to room. Occasionally she will go somewhere on her own, usually from the bathroom into the bedroom, even though I have gone into the living room. Then she can't find me.
Thanks, divvi and marsh. I'm going to try a large sign first. His eyesight is not very good so it will be very large! I'm hoping this will not turn out to be a every day thing but if it is, I need to be able to deal with it!
We have lived in this retirement 4 room apartment, for 2 years and my DH cannot remember where the kitchen is. More importantly, he cannot remember where the bathroom is.
It is the same story here. I have to lead him to the bathroom. At least he can still tell me he needs to go. Every night he thinks we are going somewhere and asks me again and again if we have to go. We have not been out of the house in over 3 years since I don't drive after dark. He worries about where he is going to sleep. It makes you want to cry seeing this happen to a very intelligent man. He can still find his way to the table to eat. LOL
We've lived here for 20 years and lately Jean will ask where the bathroom is. Our place is small - like a one bedroom apartment. Most of the time he remembers tho. Also, sometimes when it bedtime, he'll ask where we're going to sleep.
NOT! G has been dreaming a lot during his day naps. He wakes up and starts commenting on his dreams as though they were real...all the while saying he knows he is dreaming. A tad confusing.
I'm noticing more of these same things..but its not all the time. We've lived here over 30 years. DH has at times been unable to find the laundry room.. and the bathroom where he showers (excused it by saying it was 'too dark')..sometimes he has to hunt for a plate or a glass..even though the kitchen arrangement has not changed. He also has appeared to be 'looking' for his own room at times. It doesn't seem to upset him at all.. He just keeps looking until he finds or I ask what he's looking for etc.. Even then he doesn't appear to be flustered. I've installed night lights in the hallways and in the bathroom but I'm not sure its a matter of LIGHT..Its more a matter of not being oriented well enough to FIND these places..or at least it seems that way.. Thankfully so far its not all the time as I said..
We have the same problem here Patsy. At first it started out as not knowing where the garage is or the bedroom. DH would be on his way to put something in the recycle bin in the garage and start heading upstairs. Now he doesn't know what things are. DH will ask where to put a dish and I will tell him the kitchen sink. He doesn't know what that is. I still tell him the kitchen sink but now I get up and guide him there. It is all part of this disease. I don't mark the rooms at this point, DH has got to the point where he doesn't always understand written or spoken language.
Mine hasn't lost the rooms, as far as I can figure, but I mostly guide him from a to b. However, now he has trouble comprehending what I am saying as far as making his body do what I'm asking it to do. Please come here, to your walker. And he will carefully repeat what I'm saying, then stand up and walk the other direction. Not at all being obstructive. His body just isn't doing what he's heard it's supposed to do. I'm not clear how much written language he understands but he still reads cartoons in old cartoon books and laughs at them. He still hears jokes on TV and laughs appropriately. It's the motor skills that are disappearing.
We have lived in our home for 35 years and the same is happening here. Especially noted at night when he wonders where we are going to sleep and needs to be guided to our bedroom. Recently stated....when are we going home. Fortunately still finds his way to bathroom and other favorite places...fudgicles in freezer and his beloved liquor cabinet! Believe he has definitely regressed this summer and we are now solidly into stage 6. Very sad.
At this point, reading is probably going to be too abstract, and if it isn't now, it will be later. My suggestion would be to use a simple, unclutterd picture. Put a large picture of a toilet on the bathroom door. Put a large picture of a bed on the bedroom door, and a large picture of the TV on the den door.
For more detailed information, go to the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com - look on the left side, and scroll down to the box that says "Memory Techniques and Communication Tips". It's the one with the picture of the elephant with a question mark over his head.
My husband didn't get "lost", he had the rooms confused in the weeks before he was placed. If we had dinner and he was in the mood to be helpful, he would pick up his dishes and take them and lay them on the pillow of the bed. When I said "time for bed" he would go into the kitchen. I kept waiting for him to try to climb in the sink, but thankfully that never happened. He didn't lose the bathroom, he knew where it was, he just refused to go in.
My dh has been lost in our house for about six months and it is getting worse fast. We have moved into a smaller one story house. That has not helped him to find where the rooms are. I am using pictures for what is in the cabinets thru out the house. I am going to start labeling the rooms with a sign like the marks outside a dr's rooms that have arrows on them. My dh can be standing in a room, the kitchen for example, and not know he is in the kitchen. He can't find any room without direction and then sometimes you have to bring him to it because he reverses things. When told to go right, he goes left. When looking for things on the right, he looks left. He picks things up and doesn't always know what it is but when he figures out what it is he knows where it goes just not where the room is. He has not had any accidents in his clothes yet. He seems to still get the urge to go in time to find the bathroom. It is really scaring me because I think he is regressing so fast. There are so many times I feel so lost just watching him and he gets so upset with himself over all of this.
Mammie, I hope that works. My husband cannot read now. He has had trouble with Left vs. Right for several years now. If I point to something, he will look at my finger, not at the direction I am pointing. As far as I know, he has NOT gotten upset over any of his failings..he gets upset with ME because of them.
I just finished cleaning the kitchen after dinner. He had taken two glasses to the kitchen counter. Both were placed 1/2 on the counter top and 1/2 OFF the edge. He lacks depth perception I suppose, because he always places cookie boxes, glasses, etc., on the very edge of his table or counter.
I'm just so tired of his cantankerous attitude all the time. I work so hard to find something that might give him a moment of pleasure or entertainment. Nothing works anymore. He does love to watch his little dog frolic and play. Thank God for his Tigger.
I went with the large picture of a toilet on the bathroom door. He looked at it several times and knew what it was, but then an hour or so later went right past it! So, it will be a matter of making sure he gets into the right room.
He does know right and left so far...but I also see many of the things you all have mentioned here happening at this stage. One other thing is his eating habits! Oh my! Maybe I should say lack of table manners. He would be shocked if he could see himself as I see him...he pushes food off his plate with his fork and then tries to pick it up with his fingers. I saw him trying to scoop out a little piece of cereal left in his bowl using his fingers. So sad to see the person he is now rather than the engineer I once knew....and I love him.
Even tho I am using the words to let my dh know where things are, he is not always recognizing the words. This weekend we had a three day garage sale. NEVER AGAIN. The time for that is long gone. It was a difficult time for all of us involved watching my dh, their brother, being so confused and lost. It was hard and sometimes impossible for my dh to understand and follow even simple instructions. He was so lost. We all did eventually figure out how to make the weekend easier for him. Even tho a lot of the things he was doing was quite silly and not at all what we had asked of him, it was not harmful to anyone so we let him do these things the way he understood and could do them. He came away happy with himself and less upset. We all just pitched in and picked up the slack. As I was typing this message, my dh came up to me and asked why there were hangers in the closet without the coats on them. We used these coats this weekend and have not hung them up yet. I said we used the coats this weekend. He then stated that we would not know what was on the hangers if we left them empty. So he proceeded to hang the coats on them and tell me not to let that happen again..... I guess this goes in the "alrighty now" post but this is just too cute...... hope all of you have a great evening...
My husband began having problems eating off a dinner plate - and I simply began serving our meals on Pasta Plates..almost the same size, but with raised sides. That helped for a while. Later he would not pick up a fork beside his plate to eat, and would eat with his hands..UNLESS, I forked the first bite for him, and then he'd continue to use the fork. Most foods however are now eaten with a tablespoon. He couldn't fork corn, beans and other small round foods that you and I can balance on top of the tines. We only use an insulated Tervis mug for him to drink from. They have large flat bottoms and are much easier to hold by the handle. You can buy them at Bed Bath & Beyond or order on line. He cannot hold onto a round glass easily. Go to: http://www.tervis.com/ProductBrowse/TumblerSuite.aspx
Thanks to all of you for your helpful hints. This is definitely the place to be in order to get help. Not only have others had some of the same problems and worked through them, the best part of being here is that people really understand what you are going through. No one that hasn't faced this will every understand. I know I didn't.
I put my DH soup in a mug and have him drink the liquid and it makes it easier for him to handle soup. He holds the mug up close to his mouth and not so far between mug and mouth. I also put a bib on him.
Lois, that's the ONLY way my husband can enjoy soup...and many other things, such as chicken and dumplings. I'll never forget the LAST time we were in a Steak restaurant and ordered his favorite French Onion Soup. Seeing him drizzling and dripping the spoonfuls of broth, stringing the cheese and the bread between the bowl and his mouth, made me a basket case before the entree arrived and he had soup from the dish - across the tablecloth, all over his lap and shirt.. NEVER AGAIN - (out). I make it at home, and serve it to him in the big mug.
Nancy B.....if you return to Sarasota next winter you'll find that Tervis tumblers are made right down in Osprey and they have a large factory outlet store right on Rt. 41.
OMG. I have a good friend in Longboat Key and will dispatch him over there as soon as he returns from Charleston. We have a Hoverround Wheelchair (useless now!) and learned they are ALSO made in Sarasota. fyi: The other brand from The Scooter Store is made in China.
Is Route 41 the main road into Sarasota off of the Interstate? - It passes a shopping mall,etc.