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. 

You have important work to do today.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He is pretty stealthy. Looks like it’s time to put a motion detector in his room. He was dressed and nearly ready to leave. I’m sure if he’d had his shoes on he would have put his coat on too to try to get to his “destination” so as not to disappoint the visitors in his dream. It took a little time to convince him that at such a late hour they wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t show up right then. We made an alternative plan to make a call during the daylight hours and he could visit them via video call later in the day. Not sure if he’ll remember that when he gets up, but I’m ready if he does. 

(image credit: Brainyquotes.com)

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Lots of memories all jumbled up. He spent another good portion of his day worried about something that had happened 60+ years ago and what we had explained to him a couple of days ago about the incident still didn’t sit right with him. Another son was able to come to the rescue and fill in some additional details that seemed to settle the memories a little more. We’ll see how things go today — as I’m pretty sure there are still a few questions that will pop up today. Questions about uncles long time passed and how they don’t seem to have aged at all as he’s grown older — and how could he be older than they are? Some things are just difficult to navigate as he anticipates their “next visit.”

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He watched a whole football game and shared his own bit of commentary throughout last evening. His insight into “next plays” was spot on for the most part — He was a little disappointed when the game was over… but it was a good day and night overall.

He’s hugging the walls and furniture a little more as he shuffles around the house. He refuses to use either of the walkers in the house and tries to get away with not taking a walker on outings when we can get him out of the house. He wants that independence and feels that if he relies on a walker, he’s one step closer to losing another aspect of not being dependent on things or another person.