My First “Who Are You?”
According to my calculations, Jim is about 6 months into stage 5 on the Global Deterioration Scale. This stage averages 18 months long and seems to be the one that heralds the greatest change in the person with Dementia. This stage is where they become dependent on other people to survive from day to …. Read More
Christmas Visit From Old Friends
I’m so thankful that I’m the new wife. Jim and I don’t have the negative baggage of divorce or other bad memories between us. I came into his life after he found peace with himself and he seems to find comfort in my presence. For now, that makes me exempt from his frustration about …. Read More
The Driving Talk – Part 1
I’ve called this Part 1 because I’m sure there will be other conversations around this topic. At this point Jim’s driving is still good. When we go places together, he drives which gives me a chance to observe and evaluate his driving ability. I use the Driver’s Self Assessment Tool from AAA to make …. Read More
Losing Interest in Interests
I come from a long line of people with multiple interests. Both sides of my family are creators. My mother and grandmothers knit, crochet, craft, cook, bake, read for pleasure and to learn new things. My dad’s creativity leaned toward building. It seemed that he could make anything out of spare parts. In my …. Read More
A Silver Lining to Memory Loss
Over the years, I’ve learned several I have specific ways to cope with life’s difficulties. I need to find silver linings in hard situations. I will search for positive aspects, even if its just to fool myself into thinking that the situation isn’t as bad as it appears. Today’s silver lining is that Jim …. Read More
Protecting the Guilty
I’m a huge reader. I need to be prepared so that I can best face what’s coming. Decades ago when I was trying to get pregnant, I’d read 4 pregnancy books, including the scary chapters about what could go wrong, just so I’d know what to watch out for. Once I knew the risks, …. Read More
Convincing Someone They Are Fragile Without Breaking Them
How do you talk to someone about their diminishing memory and abilities– before you have the diagnosis of Dementia? How do you convince then to exercise more caution when they no longer understand the risks of their actions? In Canada, there is a wellness form for doctors to fill out as each patient approaches 80. …. Read More
Different Types of Memory
If Dementia wasn’t so heartbreaking it would be a fascinating thing to watch evolve. We’ve always heard terms like short term memory, long term memory, muscle memory but I’ve always assumed they worked together. Turns out, Dementia illustrates how independent these things are from one another. This is perhaps most evident when I watch …. Read More
Medication Roulette
One of the big things I worried about was Jim being alone all day with easy access to his medications. He wasn’t scheduled to take medications during the day but with the way his memory was fading, I’d started to worry that he may get disoriented and start taking them anyway. I was beginning …. Read More
Regular Jim vs Dementia Jim
I’ve decided to follow others and separate my husband into two people. You’ll often hear people who have loved ones with Dementia say, “Oh, that’s just the Dementia talking.” While I’ve understood the concept, I didn’t really understand it until my normally intelligent, knowledgeable and resourceful husband started resembling a simpleton. I’ve named this new …. Read More