Living with an Early-onset Dementia Diagnosis
Where does the time go? I really need more hours in the day to get everything done and still have time to sit down and write about all that has happened.
Monday was the big day – M spent a half-day at the memory care day care. I worked from home that day, so I could drive him there to arrive at 10 am, then be there to pick him up at 2 pm. Continue reading “Let’s Start That Memory Care!”
Yesterday’s post was a little long, so I left out my “adventures” from Friday. I knew when I went to work that morning that M was having a rough day. He was out of sorts and in an overall bad mood. Continue reading “My Own Bucket of Cold Water”
If I thought getting M ready to go to Memory Care Day Care was going to be easy . . . HA! I was fooling myself. Continue reading “Attention Campers!”
The past few days have been a whirlwind – and in the best possible way. So many good things have been happening! Continue reading “Day Care – Here We Come!”
M had his bowling league Wednesday night – the highlight of his week. The league ends next Wednesday and it’s going to be very sad during the weeks between “seasons.” I guess he and I will be going bowling. Continue reading “Friday Notes”
When someone with dementia begins to need care during the day, you know it. With M, he leaves the house while I’m at work, leaving it wide open, or as he’s watching TV, the message will come on that asks if he’s still watching a show and he needs to press “yes.” But he doesn’t realize that he needs to do anything, so the TV turns itself off – and then he wanders around the house with nothing to do for the rest of the day. Continue reading “The Daycare Dilemma”
After the last, VERY DISAPPOINTING visit with M’s neurologist (actually as a part of it) he suggested I meet with a memory care social worker they have working as a part of their practice. Continue reading “New Marching Orders”
One of the challenges of being a dementia caretaker (as if every day weren’t challenge enough) is that you don’t know when the switch is going to flip or what it will take to make it happen. Continue reading “When Did YOU Get Here?”
Today is the day – the day of M’s latest doctor’s appointment with his neurologist . . . he’s the doctor that M sees on the most regular basis and the one that seems most interested in handling the day-to-day issues that come up. And I’m going to be really honest today. I know there are times I have a tendency to smile and say that everything is “fine,” but today, I’m going to let him know. I want to leave there with medications for the constant scratching that M does all over his skin, the anxiety M has and (this one is new) the anger. Continue reading “Stress – Off the Charts!”
At long last, I think I have figured out the cause of the weekend meltdowns that M has been having almost every Sunday. I couldn’t figure it out – we’ll get to some point in Sunday, usually early afternoon, and he will go into a decline. He starts worrying about both of us or just him being thrown out of the house and telling me he doesn’t know what he’s doing “here.” I can never tell if “here” means in our house, in this situation, in this room or exactly what he’s talking about. And, of course, he can’t tell me either. Continue reading “Stop That Cleaning!”