Mr. Q and his ongoing behavior
Transcribed by Honey B Wackx
Recent Behavior
Mr. Q has had his ups and downs the past few days. He had done some of the same things he has done the past month. Not much has changed. In general he has picked up some new habits, while some older ones have disappeared. These will probably continue to change as time goes by.
He is now wearing diapers, when before he did not need them. Where a while ago he was wearing multiple sets of clothes, now it is no problem, like before, wearing a single shirt or pair of pants. Before it was often a problem giving him his medicine, but now it is not a problem.
Are you surprised?
I think many are surprised that Mr. Q seems to be such a problem. Well unless you have had to personally deal with someone with an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s it will seem that way. The problems never seem to go away, whether it is the same set of problems or new problems that arise.
That is part of the experience one will experience if they have to be personally involved in caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Not all the things that will happen will be like Mr. Q and others may have mild problems compared to Mr. Q or more problems than him, but in most cases there will be some difficulty in caring for a person with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Mr. Q was in a convalescent home about a month and his relatives never heard of the things we are experiencing. However there were some differences there and of course they would not likely detail all the things that did happen there with him.
Mr. Q was also heavily sedated while there, probably because they could not have a person assigned to just watch him like we have to do. He is not heavily drugged here so there would likely be more problems. Also he slept most of the time there. Here he needs to participate in some activities and eat three meals daily to stay strong. So he cannot sleep all day like he probably did there if heavily sedated.
What next?
So in analyzing the predicament I am in now in relating the specific details [I was hoping to inform the general public and not just Mr. Q’s relatives] of Mr. Q’s behavior it is evident people not familiar with caring for people with these problems might become overly concerned.
So in the future, the details will be sparse. I will try to only mention some incidents and few of the day-to-day details and activities. I hope this will not unnecessarily alarm any relatives of Mr. Q.
Years of Alzheimer’s and dementia experience
For the record Mr. Q is not the only one we are caring for. Presently and in the past we have cared for people with these two problems, we, meaning the owner/caretaker. She has over twenty years dealing with the elderly who need help and almost half that specifically for Alzheimer’s and dementia residents in her business.
I myself have been living with these people, but not in the unenviable position of having to care for them. Only now, am I a meaningful part of Mr. Q’s daily life.
So my view is very close to someone who has not had the dubious pleasure of such work. Yes I have experienced some of this from an observer’s point of view, but that is totally different from having to actually care for them.
If you have never experienced behavior from someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease all my details might make you think it’s too much to handle. Well here and now I will just say this is all part of the experience when you have to care for someone with such a disease. It may be relatively easy for some and harder for others. It’s a challenge and it usually gets more difficult as the disease progresses.
The Future
No one knows the future that I am aware of. We will follow Mr. Q’s progress, whether up or down and bring it to you in more general terms. I hope that Mr. Q’s relatives and you the public can still get an idea of what’s involved in caring for Alzheimer’s and dementia persons or patients.
Although I am relating the behavior of one individual, and not all people with the same disease will have the same problems, I hope you will get the gist of potential issues one might have to deal with in caring for such people. If I have offended any relatives in exposing the behavior of their loved one please excuse me. I meant no disrespect to Mr. Q or any of his relatives.
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