Will someone please just slap me? My DH goes across the street to visit our neighbor when he sees him sitting on his porch. Unfortunately he is seeing him on the porch when he isn’t there. (So is that the opposite of agnosia?) He will look out the window & say, “Oh look there’s Joe.” & I will say, “No, his truck is gone so he isn’t home.” So then DH says, “Well see the red, white & blue? He’s over there.” For some reason he sees the flags on our neighbor’s flag poles & thinks he sees the neighbor. I try to tell him that the neighbor isn’t there, but of course he can’t process that. This morning he went over there & actually just walked into the house so I had to call the neighbor’s wife to let her know he was in their house. She told him that Joe wasn’t there but that he would be back in a little while & so he came home. When he walked in I said, “See, I told you that he wasn’t there.” So he said, “Well his wife said that he is coming home in a few minutes.” So I said, “Well I told you that he wasn’t there.” & he kept insisting that he was coming home in a few minutes, so of course that meant that it he wasn’t getting the fact that I told him he wasn’t home. Now he is looking out the door & he isn’t saying anything, but I’m sure that he thinks Joe is sitting there. I know he is angry with me & I feel sorry for my neighbor when he gets home, but he knows how to handle DH. This has happened many times in the past few weeks & I keep trying to tell him he isn’t home. Why do I keep trying? I just need a good SLAP!
No you don't..This is one more of the challenges we need to figure out how to contend with. Now that your husband has done this the past few days, the wandering issue is coming to mind...has he actually wandered off because this will be the next thing to worry about..he may get up in the night and go out or just go out and you won't know if you are in another room. Is he registered with Safe Return or have one of the GPS "watches" on? You may need to notify your local police that he might wander and give a description of him..And then maybe a call to the doctor is in order. This is putting a strain on you, I can tell.
and to add to what Mimi said, it would scare me to death if I looked around and someone had walked into my house without knocking. That is definitely NOT GOOD.
Elaine, Your husband is most likely having hallucinations, more common to Lewy Body Dementia than Alzheimer's Disease. This is where you need to learn to "live in his world". Telling him nothing is there is not going to do either one of you any good. You'll need to agree and distract. In other words, take him across the street, and let him sit on the porch, or better still, take him for a short walk, and tell him he can see Joe later. Anything is better than arguing and trying to change his mind. It can't be done.
Also, I would strongly suggest telling his doctor about this, and asking his advice. I don't think medication adjustment or changes help hallucinations. Maybe someone else who knows more about this will come along and help.
I know that with this disease, there is no reasonable conversation.. Like talking in riddles and DH get furious, says I treat him like a child and says he's a grown man and knows all the subject at hand... He stays mad and I stay frustrated... I miss someone who can carry on a conversation and more to the point, a line of reasoning.. There is no answer here but I do know thru contact with all of you dear people that feeding them any information is a mistake... My DH is not wandering yet, but he fidgets more than ever, wipes stuff, and is generally unable to sit still ....We just had to cancel an appointment on his behalf, before it was done (he overheard the call), He had so many facts flowing, I was ready to wring his neck. Let me just say when they are like that.. we just have to let it run its course... He'll forget before the next hour and for that I am grateful.... Only so much of wondering which of us is sane..Elaine H.... Tie another knot in your rope and hang on.. God Bless