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…..

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He hasn’t slept all night for the last couple of evenings, however, he has been able to handle whatever he’s been dreaming about without wandering around the house or getting upset about things. His eyesight is bothering him — but sadly there’s not much that can be done to correct it at this point. That makes him sad and contributes to his longing to do things he feels he can’t do any more. We’ve tried some adaptive tools, but he doesn’t like them or want to use them.

On the brighter side of things he’s been throwing out one line zingers the past few days with gusto! Lots of smiles, chuckles and even a few belly laughs. He was sharing stories about his brother again last night and while a few elements of the story had changed, most of the details were as sharp as ever.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

A small change in meds after yesterday’s visit with the dr. She’s researching a couple of ideas we talked about during the video chat.

He had a vivid dream again last night that he was moving… he was hoping the movers wouldn’t move his stuff. He couldn’t recall our names or how we fit into the picture, but he did like the house he was in at the moment. Hoping for a smooth day today…

Serving others brings joy.

CAREGIVER NOTE:
Back in the wakeful night cycle. No agitation last evening — just hungry and a bit disoriented because it was so dark outside. We just let things play out — he was dressed and had his coat on like he was ready to go somewhere. He said he just liked the feel of it and wanted to wear it.

Video chat with his dr on Monday about meds. Hoping we can get things straightened out as he’s refusing to take two of the meds and there’s a problem with a third that isn’t available for a refill. We’ll see how things roll out next week.

Flip the switch from – to +.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Vivid dreams pushed what we’d hoped would be a quiet day into another realm. He was really upset about something he thought had happened the day before, but hadn’t nor with the individual in his dream. It’s becoming more difficult to distract him and move past the dreams. He got very anxious and upset. I thought the problem had been resolved, but it wasn’t so. It took another 60+ minutes to get things calmed down a bit. Once he’d calmed we asked if he would like to listen to music and asked what he would like to listen to. He said Classical and after another hour of just listening to the music, he was ready to go to bed. I thanked him for choosing the music and setting such a beautiful tone for the end of the day. He was still smiling when he arrived at his bedroom door.

Be open to the best moments the day has to offer.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Sundowning is becoming more of the norm than out of the ordinary. Hoping to hear back from the dr’s office today. 
We spent some time overnight dealing with another “worry” and hopefully, he’ll be able to “plant” the solution we worked out and not let that incident become a problem again. I’m doubtful, but he did invite me in to talk about it – rather than push me away. 
We still have a couple of other issues that haven’t been resolved in his mind. They niggle their way to the top of the pile and he stews and frets about them for hours on end working himself into a dither. The anxiety and agitation is pretty strong and he took his first nitro yesterday for some heart pain. It helped, he said. I hope we’ll see a little sunshine today — though the forecast says rain for most of the day. I just can’t seem to get enough light coming in for him. 

Make it a kindness filled day.

The choices you make today impact the choices you’ll make tomorrow.  Choose wisely.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Another flooded bathroom incident. He attempted to clean up the mess before coming out to get help. He did a pretty good job cleaning up the excess overflow from the floor… now to convince him to change his clothing is a whole other issue. 

His dementia is impacting his long term memories and he was asking once again to call deceased members of his family. Oh how I wish I could make that happen and ease his concerns for their well-being. He shares recent “dreams” with me about seeing and talking to a few of them. He has visited with his brothers, but not his parents or sister. I’m beginning to think this conversation will become part of our daily routine as we’ve had similar talks everyday for the 5 days or so.