Just an Ordinary Alzheimer’s Day
Transcribed by Honey B Wackx
Today was the first day we were gone almost all day. We left at 10:30 this morning and returned at 7:30 in the evening. Mr. Q behaved virtually all day while we were away.
The only problem we had with him was this morning putting on his clothes. He had put on three shirts by the time we went into his room this morning. It was a fight trying to get him to take them off, but rather than get upset the caregiver just let him wear them.
It probably was not too hot today. I am just guessing because we went to Palm Springs. That’s in the desert and it was not hot like I expected. It’s always 10 to 15 degrees or more hotter there than where we live in the summer or late spring.
When we got home Mr. Q was sleeping on the couch. That’s just about normal for him an hour or so before bed. His sleeping pill makes him extremely sleepy and he almost always falls asleep sometime after dinner.
We have to give him the pill at that time otherwise we cannot get him to take it. He needs the pill as prescribed by the doctor. Without it his demeanor the next day is not good and he gets up from bed and wanders into other rooms where he should not be.
Putting him to bed was fairly easy. He didn’t want to go to bed, however, even though I had to wake him up form at least an hour of sleep to get him to go to bed. Talking to him for ten minutes got him to get in bed reluctantly. I was afraid he was going to get up as soon as I left his room, but he didn’t.
So today was a good one for Mr. Q and us too. That was the first day we were able to get away and take our undivided attention from him.
Oh oh. I hear some heavy convincing Mr. Q to get back in bed. He had been in bed for the night and now he is up and grabbing my wife. He apparently went into the bathroom and removed the two extra shirts I had him take off and put them in the bedroom on the floor. He went back to bed when I came into the room.
Generally he has stopped listening or paying attention to the caregiver or anyone else maybe 60 – 70 percent of the time except me. I talk to him a lot and from what I gather he is aware of everything he does most of the time.
Even though it’s wrong (to everyone else) he still does those things. I asked him about that several times and got no consistent answer from him about why he is doing strange things. However he insists he does not care what others think of what he does.
He seems to be coherent almost all the times I am able to talk with him. Often he is almost surely aware of some of the weird things he does at the time he is doing them. It’s like something is making him do them and whatever it is is so powerful he can’t resist.
He is back in bed for now. Hope he stays in. I am going to bed now – I got absolutely no sleep last night.
Yesterday was a bad day for my wife and I. It had nothing to do with Mr. Q either, and I am sure that was the reason I got no sleep, nor did my wife.
That’s it for tonite. It’s 11:56 pm and an hour or two before I normally go to bed.
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