Moving At A Snail’s Pace
Going anywhere is excruciatingly these days. Jim has always been the guy who said that he’d rather be two hours early than two minutes late. Even though I hate being late as well, he used to get impatient with me because when he said he wanted to leave at 8, he meant be in …. Read More
Please Don’t Leaf Me This Way
This past two weeks have been exhausting. All because of the leaves on the lawn. This has been an odd fall. The leaves on our big maple out front didn’t turn colour until Sunday, 1st of November and then it was overnight that the leaves changed and started to fall. By Wednesday, over half …. Read More
Losing His Game
This first happened last week and I didn’t think anything of it. Jim had turned on the television to see if there was any football games. It was Saturday and they usually replayed games from earlier this season, or from seasons past. When I came into the room, I realized he was watching the …. Read More
October 2020 Pulse Check
I think it’s time to do a quick pulse check to see where we are before the holiday season approaches. Being alone in the city is bitter sweet. Bitter because there isn’t any family around to spend time with. I’m sure it doesn’t help Jim’s brain that I’m the only person he can converse with …. Read More
Managing Expectations
As Dementia progresses, consistency goes out of the window. It’s hard not to get frustrated. Some days, our discussions stick, Jim gets irritated with me when I repeat directions because this time, he remembered the first time. Other days, I feel like a broken record. Today, Jim had a good morning. He seemed sharp …. Read More
Diagnosis – Part 3 – The 4 Month Follow-Up & Medication Discussion
I was kind of dreading the follow-up appointment with the doctor who diagnosed Jim with Dementia. Not because I was uncomfortable with the appointment but because Jim is still fixated on that ass of a doctor who told him he couldn’t drive anymore. There was no way to control what would come out of Jim’s …. Read More
Diagnosis – Part 2.5 – Occupational Therapist Visit
This was an unexpected bonus. As I was wrapping up my conversation with the doctor after Jim’s Dementia Diagnosis, he said that he would refer us to our area health department. They would have someone come out to evaluate Jim’s physical condition. They would also inspect our home to see if we had any trouble …. Read More
Diagnosis – Part 2
After months of waiting after the referral, I finally received notification for an appointment for Jim’s geriatric assessment. Downside. We’re in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic and it’s a phone consultation instead of an office visit. All of the reading I’d done, I was expecting a 2-3 hour office visit where they tested things …. Read More
Ability Roulette
It looks like we’ve climbed aboard the ability roulette game. It’s different than the slow rollercoaster of good days and bad days because only specific tasks are affected. He can be having a great day, relaxed and aware and then hours later, I find something he’d done that leaves me scratching my head muttering WTF …. Read More
Shifting from Observing to Management and Beyond
A friend and I were talking the other day about how Jim seemed to be declining faster over the past few weeks. Part of it, at least I think, part of it had to do with the holidays and the highlighting of how distant his family is from each other. He worries how big and …. Read More