Just a warning ladies...if you go into the ladies changing room in a dept. store and you come out of the stall and your dh is standing there in the middle of the room...don't faint. Gezzz....I only wanted to try on two pair of pants and was in there only a few minutes. He usually waits out in the store when I go in. He almost was in a panic mood...he said.."Why were you gone so long?". Guess he now no longer has conception of time.
Isn't it strange we all know the condition our dh is in yet, some simple litle thing we just don't think about comes out of the blue and you get to add another....never, never...do that again thingie. So many little things are happening the the past several weeks. I feel like the "big" down ward spiral might begin anytime. When we came home from shopping and he took his nap he said to me..."Now..check on me will ya?" He has never said that before.
It's so sad when they become so frightened of losing us. In nursing school we were told it's liking waking up each day in a strange country and not knowing where to go, what to do and not understanding the language.
bluedaze*, DH said almost the same thing to me this morning when he woke up! He asked where he was supposed to go and what he was supposed to do today! When I answered him, and told him we had nowhere to go today - he said, "this is no way to live." Yes, so very sad.
Yes, Judith, just one more thing to add to our "do not" list. Hugs
Judith allow me to give you smile for today .......... This happened and must of been a sight to see.... I arrived home today to find my mailbox on the ground, I looked with shock since the post was still standing the mailbox itself on the ground. I park the car and saw my husband come out of the house with his Pants on backwards clutching his pants so they wouldn't drop. I turned around to see an elderly lady 85ish telling me "I hit your mailbox but he didn't know how to open the door" The sun was in my eyes and I didn't see it. I won't even go into how wide my street is and how fast she must of been going. And again she repeats "he couldn't get your door open for me to tell him !" And I am thinking you don't see his pants are backwards, but then you didn't see my mailbox either!!! She tells me to let her know of the cost to fix and leaves ........Hubby's remark "and I am the one who had to give up my license" ........sometime there awareness cuts the heart like a knife
My husband has done that a few times. I had sat him in a chair right outside the changing rooms and told him to stay there. Couple minutes later, I see him peaking over the doors to find me. Thank goodness the rest were empty. Now I try to only shop while he is at day care.
Oh Judith, so sorry, thank goodness my husband has always hated shopping! Terry that story is hilarious...I can just picture it. If it were in a movie no one would believe it.
Funny stories. What is so strange, I consider myself well aware of my dh's condition and try to be one step ahead of whatever and why I never thought about him going into the ladies dressing room I will never know. Of course, I should have thought about it, because that is why I can't leave him alone. If he doesn't see me in his sight then he goes into over-load and panic mode. I had to move my computer into the great room so when I am on it he can see me as he pretends to watch TV.
i always brought DH into the dressing room with me and sat him on the chair. and i waited til it was ok to slip him in if other ladies were there. i tried the 'sit out here while i go in' nope! he disappeared within 5min and i had the whole store in shutdown mode while the security and ALL depts looked for him. such a panic and fear when you lose them! they found him on the escalator downstairs but omg if you dont have a GOOD picture in your wallet get one! it can help find them quickly. and if you take them with you dress them in a loud color of sorts so if you have to describe them they STAND out!! we have to be on our toes all the time... divvi
OH dear Judith KB. yes it can seem funny, yet, it is like having another freedom taken away.
We do that don't we, when they have a good day, we tend to think they are not really AD.
It must be like short circuiting, sometimes he seems ok, othertimes in a real fog and goofy.
I miss my husband from before, I surely do. Now he just cannot seem to get it together with the tv clickers, I am constantly having to go into the bedroom and fix it for him...
just a little thing, but SO aggravating.
And we are not in the real bad part yet, bathroom issues are touch and go, but still ok.
Aloha dear people, I love to read up on you each day. You help me so much.
Since last year, I have been taking DH into the ladies dressing room. If he has to try on pants, I go into the men's dressing room with him. I usually use the handicap dressing room if there is one, because it is bigger. i have had no problems doing this. He doesn't like to shop and many times I take things home to try on or for him to try. We usually only do short shopping trips so he doesn't get too confused.
Finally, something not to worry about! My spouse and I are a same sex couple. That said, one day when we were shopping for clothes, he had entered the dressing room a few minutes before I had. When I walked in, I did a double take, as he was standing outside of his stall wearing nothing but his underwear. He must have just taken off the pants he had been trying on because he said, happily, "The pants fit me great!" Not a care in the world. He'd never done anything like that before. A "note to self" moment for me. Just moments after I lead him back into his stall, a young boy walked into the dressing room. I was so relieved I had taken care of the situation before the boy arrived. I am fortunate to have easy access to my spouse in men's restrooms and men's dressing rooms.
BLN, That must have been a shock. I have been lucky. As the last few times we have shopped for DH cloths the stores have been almost empty. We live in a small town. And I have been able to go in with him. Other wise I bring the cloths home and return what does not fit.
Well, I don't have this problem with dressing rooms. I always bought his clothes even before AD. He hated to shop, would not try on clothing, so I always bought it and brought it home to try on. I'm the same way - I hate trying on clothes in the store, so I bring mine home too.
I try to bring my dh into the family/handicapped bathrooms when the establishment has them. If they have them and they are broke, we go into the ladies bathroom. I have no problem with this and neither does my dh as long as he can "go". If anyone else has a problem with it oh well. We are as discreet as possible and I try to make sure the other women are not uncomfortable. Of course my dh would not know what he was seeing if he were to see anything..... it has worked out for us so far.
If a family restroom is not available I usually take DW into the ladies room. I must say guys they are much cleaner. I have gotten a few looks but most individuals are very understanding when they see my DW condition.
Oh, don't we all need MORE family bathrooms and wheelchairs we can put them in with the baskets that drop across the fronts to keep them in! I never realized how few family bathrooms there were until I took hubby to Florida the summer of 2010. It was like Russian roulette sending him into a men's room on the interstate. I always hoped he would come out with his pants up or even come out at all. I hoped he wouldn't stand and gawk at anyone else in there. I hoped he wouldn't play in the water. Only incident I had was he cut himself on something in one rest area. Now I just ask the GPS where the closest WalMart is because, God bless them, they almost all have family bathrooms. And those wheelchairs are a Godsend! I used to be exhausted pushing a cart around and holding his hand and keeping track of him. Invariably, if he got loose, he would turn down the next aisle or start following someone else. He just cannot handle going into a bathroom with a bunch of stalls. How strange that he can figure out that one of us doesn't belong in there and it unnerves him so much! Family bathrooms with one toilet work well.