My dh loses things constantly. Nothing new, I know this is a common dementia issue. However, even when I tell him exactly where to find something, he will have a hard time following the instructions and will be looking right at the item and doesn't see it. I expect the difficulty with instructions, but why can't he see the item in front of him?
http://alzonline.phhp.ufl.edu/en/reading/Anosognosia.pdf mothert this is a good article that helps understand anosognosia, and how it affects their reasoning and understanding due to the disease. divvi
Thanks, Divvi, going there right now. Very frustrating and amusing, I must say. He makes light of it when I go and pick it up when he's standing right in front of it. I wonder how he really feels about it all. So sad to see this.
It's also known as agnosia which is the loss of ability to recognize objects or people who should be very familiar. My DH has had that problem for over a year. It's so frustrationg at first, but when I finally realized that his brain just could not process the things that were right before his eyes, I tried to be more understanding.
You know, I was thinking that this was probably the problem. Early on, even before his dx, I realized that he was not seeing things the way I saw them. Didn't know why, but decided he could/should not drive anymore. When he came home one day after I had dispatched him to pick up our granddaughter from camp and the little darling told me that "papa got lost", that was it, no more taking the grandkids anywhere and I soon after took away his car keys. Funny, he accepted losing his car keys much easier than giving up his guns.
Ron also cannot find things that are right where they have always been and when I tell him exactly where they are he still cannot see them. His guns and car keys both "disappeared" at about the same time. The last time I rode with him (about 2 years ago) he was driving at 30 mph on a 55mph divided highway and when I told him he should speed up to the speed limit he was going 80. That's the last time I let him drive. He still thinks someone "stole" his keys. He had the key on a chain around his neck with a house key, 2 keys to nothing, his dog tag from the army and a medic alert medallion from 20 years ago.
I am noticing this starting with my DH too. He will ask what something is. Yesterday he opened the door to the fridge and asked " what is all of this" to which I said, leftovers. I put things in a dish and slide it into the zip loc bags hoping he will snack on some of these things. Usually I have to remind him what snacks are in the fridge.. This disease is just ¨¥ʼ˘¥ʼ¨ø,ʼʼøø,“ terrible.....
The opthomologist told me that my husband's vision is fine. It is not his eyes. It is the damage to his brain: it simply doesn't interpret the information that the optic nerve is sending. The disease ( death of brain cells) is robbing him of his vision. Not a visual problem that can be corrected.
My DH does the same thing and although it's frustrating I know it's his brain not able to process information. That doesn't mean I'm always patient about it particularly when we're trying to get out of the house.
Clare's particular form of AD has led to a continued worsening of her agnosia, to the point where I cannot even ask her to get me something when she asks if she can get me something from the kitchen. She doesn't know the difference anymore between what is kept in the fridge and what is kept in the freezer when looking for something, and even if I tell her where to look, on what shelf, on what side, etc. ... she still can't find it. Sometimes, it's literally as if she were blind. I used to label eveything but stopped because she cannot find what she's looking for anyway.
I wasn't aware of the name of this "disorder" but my dh has had it for almost a year. Doesn't know the meaning of drawer, shelf, cupboard when I describe. Like you, acvann, I can't ask for anything and expect to receive it. Just quicker to do it myself. Then I feel guilty I am not "pushing" enough to keep dh's mentality sharper.
I can't imagine daycares discussing "current events". My dh doesn't even know who the president is. Current events for him just revolve around his meals of the day.
Did I ever tell you about the day I spent hours with my P-Touch Labeling Machine .. I labeled every cabinet in the Kitchen... GLASSES ..... PLATES.....BREAD BOX.....KNIVES AND FORKS....
Because my DH couldn't find the glasses when he wanted a drink of water, I thought this would make it easier for him.
And...then I remembered, he had forgotten how to read.
sigh. Just because we know something..doesn't mean we know!! It just seemed too unreal at times.
It took me quite a while to realize that dh could read the words but not comprehend. He skims over the daily newspaper but can't tell me a thing he has read. Not even bold captions seem to catch his attention.
My graphic swearing ( I refer it to Marinespeak since I am a retired Marine and I learned from the best of em) is a skill on my Mac..just hold down the option key and hit the others and voila you get these neat swear word graphics ;)
And I have plenty to swear bout today...my bil died last Tues and his funeral is this coming Sat the 20th in LA and I have been told by DH that he doesn't care how bad I feel I will get him to LA for the funeral...I am so tempted to put his aˆ¶ on a plane with a " sitter" ( attendant) and fly him off and let someone else deal with him..I am f¶ˆ§ºª™£ sick of waiting on him, listening to the endless Hitler documentaries, the volume of the TV and all the rest of this disease that now has me on Valium for stress and anxiety meanwhile his kids are all off having Happy Days, I could just divorce the whole damn lot of em!