Under the weather, Joe

Shortly after our last blog, Dad got a cold. Colds don't go away as fast at 84 as for younger people. Colds are not as well understood by an Alzheimer's patient as by a person who fully knows what is going on. Bottom line, he will live and he has that figured out now. We took him to the doctor who assured him it was just a cold. That, of course, was relatively pointless because he never hears or understands anything the doctor says. The doctor did give him some pills and that made him happy. Going to the doctor also served a second purpose. Dad had refused to go to the adult care center for the day and would have continued to refuse going until he "died". But we could tell him, and did tell him, that the doctor assured him it was just a cold and he was well enough to go. That meant that he missed only one day. Two or three days would have been catastrophic.

It has now been 2 1/2 years that he has lived with us. When he came he was in late stage 4. There are 7 stages. The Alzheimer's guide said that he should move from there to stage 6 in 6 to 18 months. At the end of March we took inventory of his progress. He now has a check by all the signs of stage 5 and is starting into stage 6. Both his short and long term memories are now impaired. He is becoming incontinent. His speech lacks much more focus than before and he can not carry on a conversation that one would consider a conversation. He is increasingly opposed to cleanliness and we have to devise ways to make him even wash his hands. He does get into the shower, but he doesn't really wash. I had to put him into the shower a few weeks ago and he has been more cooperative about at least getting in since. Leading him to the bathroom and getting him to undress and get into the shower was an experience I don't want to repeat. That is a step that will only increase in necessity in the future. All his skills are slowing down which means that he is nearing the tipping point of needing professional nursing care.

Yesterday I took my bride to see her dad. He is 82 and lives a few hours away. We had a wonderful day visiting and talking over a variety of things. It was sooooooooooo refreshing to carry on a real conversation. I had almost forgotten that parents could be so clear, rational and conversant. Her dad is a snow bird so we haven't seen him since late October. He just returned from fun in the sun. What a difference between a healthy older brain and a brain afflicted with Alzheimer's. That, in a nutshell, is the difference between the sunshine and the descent.