caregiver

You’ve got this! 

CAREGIVER NOTE:

the dreams are back after a 2 night lull…. At least he wasn’t upset or worried about things as much as he had been on previous nights of having the dream. I caught him crawling out of his room last night. Not sure why he took to crawling but a part of that might have been that his nightlight had burned out and it was a bit darker than the norm. We took another stroll through the main level of the house so he could once again familiarize himself with the layout and recognize things — which he did readily. He decided he’d try to go back to bed and get some sleep after the nightlight was replaced. He’s been sleeping since 2am and for that I’m grateful. I’m really hoping he’ll sleep for a couple more hours before getting up for the day as I’m doubtful we’ll be able to spend any time outside due to inclimate weather. Just hoping we don’t lost power for any length of time, as it will be hard to keep him occupied otherwise.

Never give up.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Still not sleeping through the night – and the vivid dream made another appearance last night, but he was able to work through it without checking all the doors again last evening.

Not sure if cutting down on the amount of melatonin he is getting is contributing to the wakefulness at night, but we’ve seen a decrease in the amount of dizziness he is experiencing during the day. He hasn’t been complaining about being dizzy as much the last 3 days this week. So that’s a good thing. We’ve also been able to get him to drink a little more water and gatorade to keep him more hydrated. He’s been very good at supporting that as well. He’s even noticed a slight difference in how he feels. I’m glad he’s being supportive and willing to try a few new things.

He needed some help with a few memory related things yesterday, but other than that, he was pretty much spot on. He was able to complete his morning routine of getting dressed, making his bed and his morning hygiene. He selected what he wanted for breakfast, and his snacks for the day as well as lunch. He enjoys being able to make those choices and every once in a while throws in a zinger or two with some outlandish food choice that he knows we do not have on hand… He just laughs and then requests something else.

Negative self-talk

It’s a good day to leave it behind.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Third night in a row of the same or very similar vivid dream for him. He was up twice overnight trying to figure out where he was and how he got out of the house and was able to get back in again (even though he hadn’t been outside). I can say he was quite pleasant in his confusion and was laughing as he re-discovered the layout of the main floor of the house and the furniture in his bedroom. He also figured out that the windows in his room weren’t doors and that access to his closet was only available from one side and not from his adjoining bathroom.

It has been interesting to watch this shift in how he handles the dreams right now – we don’t see the anger as much as we’ve seen in the past several months. He can be moody at times, though. He was cheerful as he watched the snow fall yesterday. Once again the flakes were large enough for him to see from his chair across from the window. He was amazed that the snow had melted all away as we took a very short stroll out to the deck in the afternoon to sit in the sun for a few minutes and laughed at the thought that Spring was just around the corner but it still felt a little like winter.