I didn't think it was possible for my DH's memory to get worse but the last couple of days it seems like it has. Yesterday he was talking about 2 Christmas cards we received....one from his sister and one from his cousin. He was trying to explain something about one of them mentioning money. Neither one did. Later he asked when it would be New Year! Today we cleaned house and he was dusting the chair rail near the front door and I told him to finish his coffee first. When he had finished he went back and dusted the same area. I had to go pick up my prescriptions this morning, gas the car and go to the grocery store. When I came home he was sitting on the porch waiting for the mailman. It was almost 1.00pm and if the mail man is here before 3.00pm we are lucky! We go to the neuro on the 26th so I am hoping to find out if he is going into the next stage. He has been mid stage for over 3 years.
Jean21, I know what you mean...this disease never ceases to amaze me. It is like slowly little by little they lose ground. They can't remember what happened 2 minutes ago but I don't know if you have seen this or not but my DH can tell me details about what happened to him when he was a little boy.
deb, My DH has spoken about when he was a child but most of his memory was the 25 years he spent in the USAF. He retired from the AF in 1973! Come to think of it he hasn't said much lately about either one. He was dx'd in September 2007 but there were signs years before that and I knew nothing about AZ or the signs so what made me make an appointment with our PCP was he memory or lack of it. Our doctor had his nurse make an appointment with a neuro and he had him get an MRI and that's when the problem was found. Apparently he had had a stroke and several TIA's. He is now 82 and other than the AZ he has no physical problems so who knows how long he will go on.
ideb: My dh is the same. My dh's Neuro told me that the short term memory goes first and then slowly the longer term memory will go little by little. That is why it takes years for most of them not to know who you are and other people in their lives. He also told me to be aware of how far back he is remembering things and you can sometimes tell from that how he is progressing through this terrible illness. Of course, it is always different for differnt people. Every once in a while I will question him about things in his past to see what he is remembering...I go back to when he was in the service or college or high school.
I agree with everything everyone has said here so far. I also see some signs of progression especially since DH was in hospital in early Dec for heart rate and med adjustment. Now more than ever he will not recall that we have eaten when we have just finished. Last spring he had a neuropsych test and this summer it will be repeated. It is not one that wears him out..our doctor has his own computerized testing that takes about 90 min to 2 hours and gives gobs of info. We will know more about his progression then but as of last summer he was said to be mild to moderate. I think solid moderate is coming.
looking back and comparing last month to this month i see changes. some are subtle and others are obvious. still surprising is when she comes out with something that happened many years ago and the story is accurate. many of the old stories are not true or never happened but there is no need to correct because they are her stories and since i am the only one who knows the truth what does it matter. i know that more severe changes are just around the corner and it is those which i dread the most. as of now she can still with little help wash and dress herself. she still showers by herself just not as often as she used to. thats alright there is just me and her so when she really needs to shower i suggest it and she complies. the parnoia is probably the hardest to deal with cause if i leave the room she panics and does not calm down until i return even if only minutes later.
it is getting to the point that I see changes in my dh's memory from morning to night. For instance, he knew how to put the dog on her leash yesterday morning. By yesterday evening he had no clue. Still today has no clue. Most of his words are yes, no, and I don't know why. He no longer knows when looking at something what it is. For instance, the water we keep by the bed side, the tooth paste, his clothes, which side of the bed he sleeps on, I could go on and on. Many of these changes are just a few weeks old. He knows we have three children but not their names. Don't know pictures. Not even those of himself. Can't bath by himself or get his clothes out. He can put them on but this is taking more energy than even one week ago. I don't know what stage he isin, but I know it is progressing quickly. He does not look sick and that is the kicker. He smiles when necessary and agrees with people so they don't know something is wrong. But spend a few minutes with him and they know then. He is not violent but I am noticing more resistance in the way he listens to what I try to get him to do. He is only able to be the reacher of things, no longer able to do anything on his own because he doesn't understand what you are trying to tell him. His main thing to do is to walk and wander and watch tv. He doesn't even understand much of it but he still enjoys watching. It makes for a lonley life for me and him.
I've noticed that changes can come very rapidly, too. You never know what to expect from hour to hour. Then, other times, they seem to brighten up, and you begin to hope again .
Mammie, I recognize much that you say. My DH has forgotten almost everything, including everything about his own past. It's easier to talk about what he DOES remember (almost nothing). Yesterday we were invited for late afternoon drinks with a couple -- our best friends -- and on the way home I said, now wasn't that nice visiting C & F and he said he hadn't seen C& F. The only thing he can remember doing is eating something good. Sunday we visited DS and family, including two darling little grandchildren that he loves to watch, but the next day the only thing he remembered is that we had Kentucky Fried Chicken on the way home.
I find it strange that even tho my dh is forgetting most things he still recognizes that he is loosing ground fast. For about 4 days now he has been trying to help more. Most of the time I have to redo things or either finish them because it gets to be too much for him, but I think he is trying to make his brain last longer by helping out. He is usually happy just wandeing around and watching t.v. He tries to help do things that he can't do any longer, but the point is he is trying. I know he is scared and I think this is his way of feeling better. I praise him and build him up as much as possible. He gets so proud when I do this. This makes me so sad because as we all know, this disease sucks and comes like a thief in the night and robs us of any hope, joy, and future we have with the spouse we love. Anyway, there are still nice moments but for all the wrong reasons. But I will take what I can get. Good night friends, wishing all of you another blessed day tomorrow.