Proud of the Shave

In the evening, the question is when are we going to bed?  There is more restlessness now waiting for the next thing to happen.  Last night at 11:30 John left his light on and I asked him to please shut off the light.  Again, at 4:15 I saw the light on but he was in the bathroom and he agreed that he would shut the light off in a short time.  Twenty minutes later, I found John totally dressed for the day and he was proud of the fact he did a good job of shaving. 

Gently I showed John that is was dark outside and that we don't get up until seven o'clock.  I stood and helped him get this pajamas on again and waited until he was in bed before leaving the room.

For the first time this morning, he was trying to asking about his class.  I explained that he goes only on Tuesday and Thursday but I think soon I will increase the number of days.  It currently works out best if he is only there from nine until one, after lunch he gets very restless to go home, so I pick him up an hour early.

The biggest change I have been noticing is that he is losing the words to ask the questions or express himself about things.  The most fortunate thing in John's life is that fact that we have Ken, Shuchi and Mira and Ahman.  They are all equally kind and understanding about his needs.  The grandchildren are beyond what could be expected from young children but they have the wisdom of old souls in handling his lectures or his concerns.

Soon we will be able to spend more time outdoors in our fenced in backyard and that will be a safe and easy place for John to occupy the day.

Bedtime adventures

   
The evening bed routine with John has grown from a simple procedure to a time of  new surprises.  He often says I am going to get ready for bed now and goes into his room and shuts the door.  After a period of 15 minutes or so he appears proudly in the door way and announces he ready for bed wearing a different set of street clothes.  He has replaced blue jeans with corduroys , a shirt with a sweater and possibly even changed shoes.

"No, No, John, you have to put on your pajamas," I say.

"Oh, yea, I forgot.  Where are my pajamas?  I can't find them."

"No problem I will find them."   After laying them on the bed, I leave the room and go back to my laptop computer or t.v. show.

Fifteen minutes later, to my surprise, John appears again without the pajamas.  This time a different combo of street clothes.  I remind him that his p.j. are on the bed and he has to wear them because they are the most comfortable to sleep in at night.  "Oh, yes, I forgot!"  John will sometimes get into a discussion about which shoes are the best to wear at this point and how he changed them.

Generally, this routine takes 30 minutes in the evening.   The most shocking was the evening that his p.j.s were under this corduroys!  We both laughed at that one.

I have been warned by experienced people and my Doctor that the difficult of living with an Alzheimer person is when they turn night into day.  

John has occasionally leave his light on after getting up to use the bathroom.  I am generally light sleeper, I have gently and easily tell him to turn off the light.  There were a couple nights, though, I found him totally dressed to start the day.  That involved a conversation about darkness and sleep time and the light must go off.

Those times, I find frightening because I realize if it continues, it is a major sign of deterioration of my ability to care for him 24/7.

John and Daisy

I named this post because yesterday my husband went to walk Daisy our dog but forgot to take her.  I heard Daisy down stairs and also heard the side door close so I looked out the window and my husband was walking down the driveway alone.  I open the window and asked him, "Didn't you forget Daisy?".   "Oh, yes, I'll go get her."

A couple members of the family and friends has encouraged me to write about my daily life and notes the events of the day. I have resisted before because I was afraid this type of blog would become a whinny session on the difficulties of living with Alzheimer person.  I will try my best to edit this it in a way that tells the story of daily life that I, personally, have a record and the reader has a understanding of changing events.

Walking Daisy has been part of John's life for the last fourteen years.  He is famous about meeting neighborhood people on these walks in locations in Wisconsin, Florida, California and now our home in the state of Washington.  During most of these years John will fill me in on the neighborhood news and all the comings and goings of people.  Of course, I strongly thought that John had the reputation of the more friendly person of this marriage.

John always greeted children with, "Daisy is a licker not a biter, you don't have to be afraid of her."  He is also famous for the phase that in the dead of winter, those plastic bags of dog waste were called hand warmers.  Daisy is a 40 pound English pointer that looks like a miniature Dalmatian. Over the years, Daisy learned that patience is a virtue while John stood visiting with someone.

Now I must tell John where the leach is hanging each time, where to go - the stop sign and back. It is the length of one city lot from the end of the driveway.  John can not give me a report on what Daisy did do or not do on these walks because he can not remember.  But on the other hand, he does walk her more often because he forgot when the last time they ventured out.  In the meantime, Daisy is getting all the problems of old dogs and sometime walks are not enough or badly timed and she has mis-happens in the house.

It is good we all have each other as I tell John.