Jim’s daughters are here for 10 days. We’re mid-visit and it’s been interesting to say the least.

He independently recognizes them when he comes back into the room, which honestly is more than I expected.

Even though he sees the middle-aged adults, he still asks them how they’re doing in school.

Unlike at Thanksgiving, he is content to stay with them when I run out for an errand. It’s been great to have a bit more freedom while they’re here, and they appreciate the Daddy-Daughter time.

It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. He went to bed just after 8pm on night 2 of their visit, and I missed his dose of Resperidone. I didn’t worry about it because he was usually up during the night, I figured I could give it to him then.

Of course that was the night he slept through.

He had a major meltdown mid-morning. It’s the first time he’s shown outright anger since the very beginning of our dementia adventure. There were other contributing factors, such as more people in our normally very quiet house, everyone talks at once so he can’t follow the conversation, and then we disturbed his nap.

The good news. I had a lot of help to manage him as he insisted on leaving. He climbed down the front stairs for the first time in almost 2 months, because of  his foot.

He didnt know I was his wife, luckily he recognized his daughter and she was able to soothe him as he struggled to stomp away in indignation.

We got him in the car and I drove him around the loop. By the time I pulled back in the yard, he’d fallen asleep again.

His girls are fantastic with him. They’re also distressed at his rapid decline since they saw him a few months ago.  They understand this is probably the last time he’ll be even slightly ‘him’.

If he continues at the current rate, the next time they visit, will likely be for his funeral. I don’t think it’s good for them to see him after he becomes non-verbal or comatose. We’re close. He’s already lost 3/4 of his vocabulary.