A better day for George

George felt as though he was on top of things today. He showered and shaved on his own and got dressed - he was really pleased with himself. We went to get some groceries and stopped in to get some DVDs and books from the library - George does not read books although he skims through non-fiction material. He also got out some DVDs to watch.

 Each night I write on the whiteboard:

1. the day
2. the date
3. each thing that George needs to do
4. anything we are doing together (and the time if appropriate)
5. anything I am doing so he knows where I am and what I am doing

Without being prompted he consulted the whiteboard to see what he needed to do and did it - gradually he is starting to go there without my suggesting it. It just helps him to feel in control and gives him a sense of satifaction.

getting ready for bed

Last night George came in to the bedroom to come to bed. He had his pyjamas on the bed but went and got some more out of the drawer. I told him to put them away as he didn't need them and the others were already out. After me suggesting that he put them away he stood for some time confused as to what to do. I had to repeat this several times. Eventually he put them away and put on the pyjamas he had on the bed.

I have to make sure that I don't treat him as though he is stupid and I need to ensure that my voice tone reflects this - it all requires a lot of patience.

Night time toilet

Unfortunately at times George mistakes where the toilet is and goes into the bathroom, down to the end and goes in the corner by the bath. We have a carpet in there and at first I thought that we had a broken pipe until I caught him one morning. I put newspaper down in the corner and that seemed to have stopped it but he went there again last night. I am going to have to put a lock on the door so he can't get in there at night.

Following

George has started following me when I go into another room. This is a bit disconcerting as I am usually trying to do something and he is talking about something that is completely irrelevant.

He said to me, "I can remember things and people in my class from years ago as clear as a bell, is that part of what I have?" I had to explain that is his long term memory and it is good he has that but it is his short term memory that is going.

so much has happened

I am now going to start to document this blog daily so it shows a record of how a person slowly degenerates into the world of the Alzheimer's.

Since I last wrote George has slowly come to accept that he has Alzheimer's but is trying to fight it. I have a list up on a white board each day so that he knows what day of the week it is, what month, the date etc. It then shows what he needs to do for that day.

I have found that without prompts he does not regularly shower or wash (I suspect that he just stands under the shower rather than washing). I also need to check clothes needing washing. He is not able to shave properly. Two weeks ago I asked the doctor if someone could come to help him with showering and shaving a couple of times a week. The doctor was reluctant but I insisted as I can see that it is going to get worse and if George can get used to someone helping now it will not be so hard further down the track. Last week George's caregiver, Mark, came for the first time. George was not too keen on the idea but Mark was really good and let George set the pace and be as independant as possible, wonderful help. Mark comes at 9.30 on the days he comes - 3 times a week.  One morning I found George about to get into the shower at 7 rather than wait for Mark. I suggested that we have breakfast and we went to the dining room. Before you could say 'Jack Rabbit' George had gones and turned the shower on again - that happened 4 times before Mark arrived.

I went to put the dish washer on this morning and found a whole lot of cups on the bench - some clean and some dirty. I asked George about them and he said that he was took the clean ones from the dishwasher for me to put away. He didn't seem to remember getting out the clean ones from the cupboards.

We had some friends round for drinks and nibbles last night. George was telling a story when he found that he couldn't find the words he needed. He covered it up successfully but he then talked to me about it later, he obviously finds this frustrating as language is his strength.

It is so sad as I know he is trying so hard and is frightened of going into a  home - hopefully that will not happen for some time.

Official

Well it is official, George has been diagnosed with dementia from mixed vascular and Alzheimer's. I know that I have thought that is what is going on but it is official now. The Alzheimer's Society person rang and they are coming round next week.

Although he has been a 'word smith' all his life he is losing words very quickly now - this has been very sudden and certainly not something I would have expected. He looks to me to supply the right word for him. I always wonder if by doing things for him (or for mum) and I enabling them to 'opt out' and would it be better to make them do more for themselves??

Visitor

Yesterday we had a visitor and George was fine for most of the visit. Just before the person left (at about 1.30 pm) George left the room. He came back with his dressing gown on. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was 'getting ready to go to a function'. The 'function' is tonight!!

Update

George is still packing regularly and still asking if he can do something - he thinks he might be going to Auckland tomorrow. However the rugby world cup is keeping him occupied, he watches the games and the replays. He is able to tell you all the moves made during the game so there is nothing wrong with his memory regarding the rugby.

I am finding it increasingly important to remind him to shower - I am sure he would just go for a week without one if I didn't get on to him.

He does try to help but finds it very difficult. He 'makes' the bed each day. I make it properly before I go to bed as he just pulls the cover over everything...

Mum is going down hill. She can get aggressive with staff members who try to tell her what to do. Not physically aggressive but verbally. She was very upset with a staff member when I went in over the weekend and it took me some considerable time to calm her down. Older people don't like being told what to do. There are better ways to get them to co operate e.g. would you like to ... for example.

Clothes

Put on his track pants yesterday - inside out. I told him that he had them on inside out and he said it didn't matter. Today he came out and said 'I've got them on the right way now' - they were still inside out but round the other way!!

Dishes

Poor George is trying so hard to help. The other day I had to go out briefly. When I got home I found him taking dishes out of the dishwasher and starting to stack them. I explained that we needed to put the dishes back in the dishwasher as they had not been washed. We did this - there were only a few dishes in there.

I went to do some work outside and the next thing George has the dishwasher going to wash the few dishes that were in there.