My Life With Jim – Page 5 – Dementia Makes A Strange Bedfellow

Moving With Dementia

February 18, 2022 Wife of JimCoping General

Anyone living with a person who has dementia, will eventually have to move them. Most of us can’t afford medical home care. Hopefully, it won’t be until the disease is far enough advanced that they will no longer be aware of their surroundings. Jim is half way there. We talked about the possibility of …. Read More

Kicked Out Of Bed

February 7, 2022February 8, 2022 Wife of JimImtimacy Loss Progression

If you’re like me and have a spouse with dementia, there are some aspects of the encroaching disease that the children of the affected don’t have to deal with. Weaning ourselves from sleeping together. I don’t want to, but it’s becoming a necessity for our health. Over the past year or so, Jim has …. Read More

Another Fall

February 4, 2022February 4, 2022 Wife of JimGeneral

Jim showers in the evening. He started doing this after he retired. He didn’t want to shower during the day when I was at work so he started doing it after supper when I was home, in case he fell. This has been a very wise idea as he’s taken several tumbles. This was …. Read More

Disorientation For The Win

January 28, 2022January 27, 2022 Wife of JimCoping

It’s been a rough couple of weeks. We’ve had constructions guys in to finish the ground floor. Initially it was to keep Jim from the stairs and also to prep the house to get it ready to sell. It’s been a long painful process, made worse by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant …. Read More

Neck Stretches

January 7, 2022 Wife of JimSelf Care

We’ll pop this one under the category of self-care. It’s been a rough few weeks. Every step forward is met with two or three half-steps back. At least it feels that way. Everything about my house renovations and subsequent move back East seems to be stalled. The at-home career I was building is stalled …. Read More

Year End Wrap Up

December 31, 2021 Wife of JimGrieving Imtimacy Loss Progression

The last few weeks have shown me exactly how much I’ve lost my husband. Using the scale I devised to measure his decline (assuming him as 100% in 2014): He was 90% in July 2017 – Able to function normally, but lost the ability to critically comprehend complex processes like investments, getting a loan …. Read More

Christmas Heralds The Things To Come

December 28, 2021December 30, 2021 Wife of JimCoping Progression

Christmas came to pass, over and over again this year. Jim woke up and did his usual routine of going downstairs to use the exercise bike and use the weights while I turned on the coffee and prepped our morning pills and vitamins. Once he was settled, I asked him if he wanted to …. Read More

Caregiver Mental Health

December 20, 2021 Wife of JimCoping Self Care

This one is about me. I’ve been soldiering on, smiling and caring, feeling like a fraud whenever I receive encouragement and praise because, really what else am I supposed to do. I’m not going to leave Jim because his health is declining. Overall, I feel like I’m handling everything so well, I don’t deserve …. Read More

Under Construction

December 17, 2021 Wife of JimUncategorized

We’ve finally started finishing our ground floor. The construction crew arrived this morning to create a supply list and figure out where to put the shower… turns out, once I cleared away all the boxes stored in the room, there was a drain already installed (eliminating the need to drill into our foundation to …. Read More

Christmas Cards

December 11, 2021 Wife of JimUncategorized

Every once in a while something happens that forcibly reminds you how far your loved one has declined. This week it was Christmas cards. It surprised me because he knew Christmas was coming and that we had to get cards (and money to put in them for his grandkids). He was obsessed until I …. Read More

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