Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Alzheimer's Blogging

I thought today I would write something from my book. We took care of my father in law with his Alzheimer's until his death June 13, 2004.

June 21, 2003

As the days go by now, our routine doesn't seem to be helping him anymore. He doesn't seem to remember how to do anything or maybe he just doesn't want to remember. He still fights me when I make him take a bath. It's been almost a year now and you'd think that he'd be use to this. When I leave he bathroom, he sneaks out of the bathtub. When I come back to check, he'll be dry and there's no towel in the bathroom. He tells me that he's already washed up and that the water "dissolved into his skin."

After he's had breakfast, he'll ask me, "When can I shave?" Of course, he doesn't remember that we did that already. He's always excited about going for a car ride, but after about ten minutes, he begins to complain and begs me to go home. He still likes to wash dishes. Now he looks for the glass dishes (that we use everyday) and I have to catch him before he puts them away dirty. He has no idea what a dishwasher is, so I'm safe there.

He still forgets when he ate and asks to eat again an hour later. I ran out of Risperdal recently and I was quickly reminded of how much that medicine helps Dad. Without the Risperdal, he wouldn't sleep and became verbally abusive again. I was so glad to get him back on the medication.

I'm now putting a restrainer on him at night so I can sleep. He's managed to get out of it, but I'm still experimenting with different ways to tie it. I don't use it every night, just the nights when he refuses to sleep.

He still needs to walk to the mailbox and back, no matter how dark it is outside.

It's hard to do things as a family now, because he complains so much.

Sometimes I can get through it and sometimes it gets to me. Then I get mad at myself for being so selfish. For Father's Day, we went miniature golfing. I was hoping that he could play along with us, but he complained so much that we told him to sit in a chair and watch the greens where he could watch us. But he kept getting up and looking lost, unable to find us. So I made him walk the 18 holes with us and he was upset because he wanted to sit. It does make for a tiring day.

Dad is spending a lot of time outside now that it is warmer and , to my surprise, he's not running away. He's busy taking leaves and branches out from under the bushes. My son Erik is getting married soon and we'll have to put him in a nursing home for a couple of days while we go to the wedding. He's not alert enough to travel and he'll make it the event very difficult for us if we take him. I wish the old Joe was with us so Erik could have grandparents from both sides of the family.

We cannot take life for granted. You never know what is going to happen tomorrow and how you will be living. So you have to really live today like it is your last.

Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint Of James A Rock Pub Co
www.mariefostino.com
www.mariefostino.blogspot.com

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