Keeping one's head above water

George does the strangest things as well as things that can be very irritating.

One thing he does is goes through papers and books. He pulls them all out and scatters them all over the place. I got him a box to keep a lot in in the lounge which helps but he then goes and pulls down all the ones that are stored in the top of the wardrobe and has piles of them everywhere. I spend hours tidying those up.

Last night I was getting the evening meal and had put knife and fork on the table. He sat at the table and picked up the knife and fork and began to eat an imaginary meal. After doing this for some time he turned and said to me " I don't seem to be getting anywhere with this"...

Also last night he got his onesie off and his pad. He put on track pants! I woke up and realised this so had to get his track pants off and his pad on. He wouldn't wake and it took ages as he was a dead weight and it was not easy. I am going to get the safety pins used on babies so maybe that will stop him (I hope so).

Today he went out for coffee (twice) so he was happy about that - once was a free one from McDonalds which is great.

Birthday

Well today was my birthday and I was lucky enough to get two presents. I am very grateful for both of them thank you Mr Key. One is a Gold card which gives the holder some advantages, one being that you can have free coffee at McDonald's. The other is a weekly super amount which is given to all New Zealanders when they reach retirement age. This is so nice as it has not been easy since I retired with many unforeseen expenses cropping up.

I took George to McDonald's today and we used the Gold card twice!! Nice coffee too.

George tends to be like mum and restless in bed. One of the caregivers suggested this to me: Yoghurt with a weetbix broken up into it. He was saying that it is also great for children but must be just before going to bed and it has a calming influence. Worth a try.

Looking forward

In about 10 days I have a friend arriving from Australia. It will be so nice to have her here for a few days. It is so nice to have some to talk to who I can just chat to about ordinary things which is not always possible with George and he certainly doesn't understand any problems which arise (and there have been many over the last 3 and a half years). Her mother was a close friend of my mother and also had Alzheimer's. Her family are bringing their parents ashes back to their roots in Darfield as although they lived away from here for many years their hearts remained New Zealanders. It is nice as she is well away of strange behaviours of those with Alzheimer's so it won't worry her.

George enjoyed himself talking about rugby to the friend we see on Fridays and it was even better as the friend's brother also came around so George was in his element talking about All Black tours of days gone by.

Busy week

After the good day on Monday George has been quite needy for the rest of the week. On Tuesday he had a 'dizzy spell' so I had to leave him home instead of going to Harakeke as I had another appointment. We had  a doctor's appointment later in the day so we are testing his blood to see if anything is wrong. 

Last night he managed to take the onesie off (two pins tonight!) resulting in him putting on and wetting 4 more pairs of trousers. Luckily the bed wasn't wet however my first task this morning was the washing. He got up at about 4 this morning. This is something that can be pretty hard to deal with.

Today I have taken him to go to see a friend for the morning. He loves to socialise...

Assessment

A person came from PMH to assess George. Wouldn't you know it he was having a good day. He was charming and articulate. When she asked to see him walking he was walking really well!! Couldn't believe it. She thinks he is nearly at the dementia unit stage but at present she thinks he will be catered for at an ordinary rest home. As she said he is interesting and chatty socially and will be a favourite with staff for these reasons. He is going to Beckenham Courts soon so they will let us know when they can no longer cope.

Watching

I have found that I need to watch George fairly closely. He sometimes goes to the toilet and sometimes that is OK. Each time he goes he rips off toilet paper and folds and puts it down somewhere in the lounge. Also if his continence pants get wet he takes them off and puts them on a chair somewhere and then just puts his track pants back on, I need to quickly get a new pair on.

The onesie continues to be great at night. Unfortunately he was able to undo the zip and get them off again in the middle of the night. For a couple of nights I was able to counteract this by putting a jersey over top but he worked that one out.

Light bulb thought: I now put a safety pin in the top of the zip so he can't pull it down!! Seems to be working so keep those fingers crossed.

Assessment

George is being assessed on Monday so that is good. He is certainly getting worse. In this assessment they will also look at services they can give to help me.

I am very excited today as I am seeing my grandson's - the first time in a long time. Luckily it is a fine day so we will have a good time.

Continuing to deteriorate

George is continuing to deteriorate. It is such as funny disease as he remembers all the thing he and his son did during his son's trip here. He had a great time. He remembers new people he meets names (all short term memory). He is still interested in what is going on in the world. He still has a lot of long term memory but....

Cognitive skills are continuing to deteriorate. He uses continence pants (these are fantastic) all the time now - these work well but when he has been to the toilet (during the day) he comes out with his pants (longs and continence pants) around his ankles and I have to tell him to pull up first the continence pants and then his long pants - he is wearing track pants all the time now as they are easier to manage.

He has been due for an assessment since February but PMH are 'behind'. Let us hope it is sooner rather than later.

They are fantastic

Wow I am a happy caregiver, solved a problem!!!

Onesies are fantastic. I put a disposable pair of pants on George at nights (he now wears these all the time) and then put on a onesie as he is unable to take this off himself. These do not feel wet even when they are used so in the morning: dry bed, no mess anywhere and I just take them off and dress him in pyjama pants and a pad until the caregiver arrives for a shower; works well and takes a lot of stress off me. I am no longer needing to clean every morning. Long may it last.

Another night

Last night George required 3 changes. He wakes, takes off his pants (in the bedroom) and wanders down the hall to the bathroom going to the toilet all the way. I try to impress on him that he cannot take the pants off!!! I have told him to wake me when he needs to

His caregiver today (who is a fund of great ideas) has suggested that I put George in a onesie at nights as he is unable to manage taking these off on his own and will need to wake me to do this and I can therefore get him into the toilet before he takes his pants down.

Got one of these today so we can see how it goes.

He loved his day outing with his son but also had toilet issues. I am now putting him the full continence pants all the time.