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.

Celebrate the moments throughout your day.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

The “niggling” was back. Not sure what the trigger is, but it took nearly 24 hours to resolve it this time. 2 phone calls and numerous text messages later, he was finally able to release the tension and anxiety over a nonexistent event — at least for the time being. I’m not holding my breath as the “problem” is an evolving iteration of the last two but all based around the same beginning story. So whether this iteration is the last one or just another layer on something yet to be shared over the course of the next days, weeks or months is yet to be seen.

We do appreciate the support we have when it comes to family accepting phone calls that he demands be made when he just has to hear the answer again, but from a different person. So thank you — for EVERYTHING!

CAREGIVER NOTE:

We were up again last evening — thankfully, the situation was easy to handle and he was satisfied after seeing the papers that were printed. He seemed grateful to know that I was aware of things and he was happy to see that the situation wasn’t as bad as he’d been thinking when he first came out of his room.

We talked for a little while longer — he rehashed his earlier concerns and had them worked through when he went back to bed a couple of hours later.

It appears that we’re back in the cycle of 3 to 4 days of minimal night sleep — going to bed earlier and getting up earlier and longer wakeful periods over the course of the night. Not much in the way of naps during the day either and he still doesn’t want to do anything other than watch his news program over the course of the day.

His eating routine is sticking to the 5 or 6 small meals a day… Gray days require more light in the main living areas of the house and in his room over the course of the day. That has helped soften the sundowning a bit and he seems a little more at ease during those late afternoon times too. He’s noticing that his balance is off a bit and that he’s shuffling more — but still refuses to use the walker and prefers having someone walk beside him, so at this time we oblige him when he asks for that help.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Listen to the stories! There’s often a silver lining in them.

we’ll make it through this together.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

We made it through a very long night of no sleep — he was agitated about something, but didn’t vocalize it. He did say he wanted to talk to his “CFO” but after check his watch and the clock repeatedly he realized that everyone would be sleeping…. but he wasn’t ready to go back to bed. In his mind, everyone should be up and ready to handle his problem within the hour… so, I asked him to tell me about the places he and his family had lived while he was in the military and I shared a few stories from my childhood which stirred a few memories of his own. The agitation finally dissipated and he was ready to go back to bed about 4 hours later. Hoping for a good day today. 

CAREGIVER NOTE:

More sundowning — he woke up about an hour after going to bed and was out of sorts with another “niggling” of a memory about a document that hadn’t been completed correctly and didn’t match a second one he had signed. A call to a son earlier in the day helped for a few hours, but it was back again last evening. Once we’d worked through the memory — he claims had occurred just a day ago, I think we finally figured out where and why he was getting hung up on it. We talked it through a couple more times — and our last review of the incident didn’t come with any added, “….but’s” in the next sentence! We’ll see how things roll out today. 

We ended the late evening with a collection of previously unheard stories and that were fun to hear and the expressions on his face were delightful to watch as he shared (and reshared) one of the stories about his dad riding a plow driven by a couple of feisty horses. He was able to sleep through the rest of the night with no additional anxiety or trouble. YAY! 

CAREGIVER NOTE:

More stories about his brother Jack. He really idolized him as a child and beyond. I think I need to go take a look at a couple of the binders we have and see if the one story he shared last night can be found in one of them. He talked about an article in a magazine that featured his brother. I’m pretty sure that there’s a copy of the article in there — his wife was a keeper of all things regarding family. 

…to small kindnesses.. be grateful for blessings big and small.  You never khow what may blossom.  Unknown