Brian’s newest symptom is frustration when trying to make himself understood. He will see something on TV and come find me to tell me about it and by that time he has forgotten the words. If I am watching the same program I usually can figure out what he wants to say. I have to change the TV stations for him so I pay attention to what he watches so that hopefully it is easier for him to make his point. "Writer" is actually David Hasselhoff who is guest staring on a sitcom. Brian recognized him from his old show "Night Rider."
Brian loves to watch certain TV shows and movies, although his attention span for movies now-a-days isn’t very good. He is not able to work the remote anymore, let alone put a movie in and play it. He used to sit and watch the TV for hours at a time, now he is in motion about ¾’s of the time. At first I thought he was just checking to see where I am, but he is up and down even when I am sitting with him. And as I have said before, we go to bed and he is up and down for about 20 minutes before he settles in for the night.
He can’t focus on reading and if he could, he can’t comprehend it. If I point at something, he doesn’t understand where or what I am pointing to. Once in a while when he talks to me, he faces the other way as if I am on the other side of him. He knows I am there, just not sure where. More often than not, I help him with getting dressed and using the toilet.
Brian hasn’t been depressed (that I can see) or angry which are common to people living with Alzheimer’s, or any chronic disease. Brian has always been a "what you see is what you get" kind of guy. He has always depended on me for financial matters, keeping track of social events and running our household. He is very comfortable letting me take care of him. He loves and trusts me and knows no one could do it better at this point in our lives. So he hasn’t had the fears that others have about what to expect with the disease process. His only expectation is that what ever happens, I will take care of it for him. It might sound simple but Brian is not a complicated guy.
Brian lost his job as a forklift operator early in the disease process. He tried temp work but wasn’t able to learn new skills. The last year he worked was in the garden department at Walmart. As his symptoms got worse, I would go in the back and write down his schedule for him and tell him when to work. He liked to get to work at least an hour early to familiarize himself with the store each day. I drove him and picked him up. He got where he couldn’t read anymore and when stocking shelves, just matched like items with like items not code numbers. If he had a major problem trying to find or do something, he would call me for help. He likes people and the other personnel loved him. We managed to keep his disease under wraps until he went out on disability.
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2 comments:
Can you imagine what life would be like for someone with Alzheimers who didn't have someone to take care of them. I would think they would have to enter a care facility of some kind, but what about before that happens? What about people who are diagnosed, are not yet far along enough to have to be in a care facility, but are still living their lives, but they begin to deteriorate? That must be terrifying. And what about people who don't have the know-how and connections to get the medical help that you have been able to get for Brian? I wonder how much of our homeless population is in that state because they have Alzheimers but can't do anything about it. What a world we live in.
I would think that when they admit there is a problem it would be very scary not to have support system in place. Since only 5 percent of the population has Alzheimer's at age 65, I think other mental health problems affect the homeless more than Alzheimer's. You are right in saying what a world we live in. I look forward to change.
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