Jeff's particular variant of AD is posterior cortical atrophy, which causes him visuo-spatial problems which are severe relative to his degree of memory impairment. By now, he occasionally misses a chair and ends up on the floor (still relatively rare,) or stumbles over the dog.
This morning I heard a big kaboomph, and figured he'd fallen trying to climb on the elliptical trainer. Actually, he'd been trying to give himself a back-scratch on a wall corner, miscalculated, then fell over the elliptical trainer (which was only involved in that it was nearby.)
This year I have observed a marked slow-down in his manner of navigating down stairways. Oddly, he's developed a habit of going up stairs 3 at a time, but is very slow and deliberate stepping down.
I realize that once an area of failure begins, it is likely to begin to grow exponentially. So I'm thinking toward re-purposing a downstairs room, currently and primarily being used by our son for computer stuff, into a bedroom. There is a bathroom next to it.
As son, 18, will be headed off for college in the Fall, it will not be too disruptive for him for me to reclaim the room for another use. I'm just uncertain about how/when to make the call, safety-wise, and am most uncertain what I, personally, will do. I doubt if Jeff will acknowledge that he's better off without daily steps...I can't see giving them up in general yet. Also, I absolutely do not want to move downstairs. It's a good 1-person sized room, but I want to maintain my upstairs room.
So, this is all a bit nebulous in my thinking right now...
I think it's an excellent idea, but I'm wondering how you will keep your husband from going upstairs. Depending upon his level of functioning, you could get one of those gates that go across stairs to keep kids and dogs out/in/safe. If he does not have the ability to open it up, that may keep him downstairs.
Emily, it seems to me that you are making the right decision to move your husband downstairs. It may take some ingenuity on your part to make the idea and room attractive enough for him to agree. I know that mine didn't, wouldn't. Then I put in a stair master, so that he could go up and down safely, but he refused to use it. We have three flights of stairs in this 60-year-old house, and there he was, bent over with arthritis going up and down. I used the stair master myself to go up to him. When he was 87, he was hospitalized because of a spontaneous compression fracture of the coccyx. One of the deciding factors of placing him a care facility after the month's hospital stay was the stair problem and his high risk of fall. Now, at 90, he's falling occasionally - he has low blood pressure and he's lost a lot of the vision in his right eye due to glaucoma. About 10 years ago, I wanted to move to a smaller, one level house, but he wouldn't. In rereading what I've written, I guess you could say he's stubborn.
Emily--we aren't there yet, but I have started thinking about turning our living room into a bedroom if the need to eliminate stairs arises. Since we stopped entertaining, the living room never gets used anyway, and there is a powder room on the same floor. I have spoken to our contractor about modifiying the laundry room (he suggested turning the whole room into a handicapped shower--it's small) and putting the washer and dryer in the garage temporarily. Later on it could be converted back into a laundry room--the contractor said it wouldn't be a huge expense. I think he was talking about putting a prefab shower right over the existing porcelain tile floor.
marilyninMD As I remember from some of your past posts you hope to keep your husband home through out this disease. My advice to you would be not a handicapped shower unless it has a drain in the floor, one that you can roll a shower wheel chair into. I find that is the best option as the disease progresses. I had the tilt and swivel shower bench that worked for years with my husband and now he is past that. The only real shower that he can use is the one that you roll the PVC type shower chair into the room and shower him that way. A step in shower would have been a waste of money for us.
If I used a gate I'd have to say it was for the old arthritic cat, who otherwise would pee under my desk. But that's a thought to keep in mind if I continue to be thinking in this direction.
I did get my husband to agree reluctantly to move. We already owned the house we moved to (it was rented out) but it was a huge renovation. We set up the walk in lower level for my husband with a bath with a roll in shower, all laminate floors (no rugs) and wide doors. He was leery of the idea that the main floor would be my level, decorated the way I wanted and with his chaos not allowed there. But when his three rooms began to take shape he became possessive of them, wanting all his special artwork where he could see it. He has a recliner and larger TV than he has ever had before, and he is very happy with the water squirting toilet seat. He has a hospital bed but with a sleep number mattress on it. He can eat lunch in front of the TV. In other words, it is all set up for his preferences and convenience instead of being set up my way, and he is enjoying that. My excuse for separate bedrooms was his REM sleep behavior disorder, which caused him to attack me in his sleep several times.
emily - if you started using a gate now it would give him time to get use to it before you move him down. I think the idea is great for his safety. You can get a baby monitor to listen for anything going on at night. As Pam did, you could make the room his which might make acceptance easier. Maybe you son can help him get use to the idea before he leaves.
Jane--Yes, I was thinking of a wheelchair accessible shower if I go in the direction I described above. However, my husband's disease is progressing slowly and hopefully, we are many years away from needing it. So far, the decline has been restricted to cognitive issues, he is 65 and incredibly healthy otherwise. So time will tell how it plays out, but I like to think the options through far in advance. Thanks for your post.
If stairs are becoming a worry, it's time to do something about it. Ours are only the flight to the basement, but when reminding him not to go down started to no longer work--changed the light over the stairwell in the wee hours of the morning and ladder "slipped a lttle bit"; had no business bringing laundry up; nor leaf bloer down, I put a padlock on the door to the stairway. His balance is not good and worsening. First try failed when he went and got a screw driver and unscrewed the hasp. Re-mounted differently, and when locked no screws are accessible All who need to, know the combination. He can't do a combination lock. Safety is paramount.
Stairs are a real issue and the gates can become a safety issue of their own.....they may try to climb over or in my husband's case he would just pull it away, and go where he wanted to. He was not at home during his falling stage....thank God, since he fell and broke his nose several times while at the AD facility...he would pace until he fell over. Once I brought him back home he was bedridden.
It is much like having toddlers and having to childproof everything again.....
Many years ago DH had the bright idea of converting our garage into a downstairs bedroom + bath. A car port was built adjoining the house for the car. It was genius -- I would never have thought of it or had the energy to carry through. But now it is absolutely wonderful. We never go upstairs except to play ping pong. VERY occasionally. Should do it more. I try to remember to do a little cleaning up there when son and DIL come over on Sunday afternoon and want to let the baby sleep up there. Last time I forgot and son said it was the best place to hunt spiders. (his hobby). And he knows where the vacuum cleaner is. I could retreat up to one of the upstairs bedrooms if I need to sleep alone, but I would hate having to go upstairs and so far I still love having another warm body in my bed!