CAREGIVER NOTE:
Slipping into the past for a major portion of the day – reframing or redirecting in certain scenarios is a little more difficult when he insists he needs to write a letter so family members (long deceased) will have his address. I’ve no doubt he’s lonely and would love to spend time with them, but looking at pictures and not being able to call or hear their voices makes it all the harder at many levels.
CAREGIVER NOTE:
He’s up and anxious about something, but can’t tell me what… He’s shuffled back into his bedroom and has turned out the lights and is crawling back into bed — still dressed which isn’t his norm. So we’ll see where the day takes us when he gets up again in a few minutes.
Take it one day, one hour, one minute, one moment at a time.
CAREGIVER NOTE:
I think I jinxed us. Sundowning and the vivid dreams made an appearance again and he was adamant about having helped his folks move to an apartment at the end of the street. From his description of the “experience,” he was back in his hometown. Thankfully, he didn’t demand a ride in the car to go check on them. He was able to settle down a bit after we reminded him he’d done everything he could to help them earlier in the day and they were probably exhausted and sleeping as he should try to do as well. We shared a list of things on the agenda for today with him and he seemed excited about helping check off a few of those things including his weekly trip to a favorite restaurant for a meal.
Fingers crossed for a good day and a better night ahead.
CAREGIVER NOTE:
He really enjoyed watching (actually, it was more like binge watching) an old TV series yesterday. Actually didn’t even ask to watch the news at all. Quite the change from previous days — though it will likely be back to the news again today. The break was nice and grateful it’s on a free app and we have unlimited streaming/data. He’s been in pretty good spirits overall, though there’s still some confusion most days. No sundowning yesterday at all — and he even asked for a second piece of chicken at dinnertime and ate it without sharing with the dog. 🙂 He said he was starving!
CAREGIVER NOTE:
Another night of confusion and wandering. He didn’t try to get out of the house, but was very confused as to where he was and how he got here. Talking about where he was and answering his questions truthfully seemed to help and he was finally able to put some of the pieces together and go back to bed. It’s doubtful the answers will stick for long, but maybe he’ll feel okay about things today when he is up for the day.
His new watch arrived — he’s now on his third talking watch. This brand and style is not waterproof, but it is the kind of watch he wants and he can read the digital numbers and hear the the time and date. Now if we could just get him to quit messing with the alarm button…..
Greatitudes 