The Beast Has Calmed......

I was just kidding about the duct tape for anyone who does not know me and my sense of humor.........

This disease and the behavior issues that go with it can be very trying on the caregiver.....spouse.....me. 

Obsessions are not fun.....his is now in a quiet place..... hopefully for awhile....One never knows as it can start in again at any given time....all that was won in the first go around is long forgotten and you start anew.....

Tom actually slept all night and "no coffee" ??????  He woke at three and I let the girls out....He asked me to start the coffee....and said soon he must take his pill.

I climbed back into bed and just agreed with him......He woke me at seven to tell me he never got up for coffee and he had went back to sleep.  I asked if he took his pill and he said yes you gave it to me.

I got him a cup of coffee...his pill he didn't take..... and let the girls out.....again!
He went right back to sleep.........???

A few of  "my people"  have stopped in to see me  "us" and how it's going.... They seen Tom's sudden anger. ......... Not directed at them ..... It took them by surprise and I think it scared them some what..... I told them that wasn't nothing.  That doesn't even phase me.    You should see the full blown version.....That's like an erupting volcano with lava spewing everywhere and you have no where to run.......

But his new meds have simmered him way down so hopefully we won't have to deal with the volcano episode again for awhile....."never" .....would be good for me but one never knows and all you can do is stay on guard and have a plan in place.........

: (

I feel my nerves are fraying.......the constant...MOM!......MOM!....MOM!!!!

Has anyone used duct tape?  Just wondering if it worked......

Update

Seems like Tom is simmering down or I am adjusting to the change?  I think he is accepting and adjusting too....... It's hard to tell.  What he knows and accepts one day or moment is forgotten the next.

What I do know is he is obsessed with trapping..... He has no clue about not having $$ for everything he wants....He just wants it and if I don't give or get it for him he thinks I'm being mean to him....(child mentality?)

He thinks I know everything and can do anything....... I was with recently while he set a trap.... I have NO CLUE what he was doing..... he was fumbling like he didn't have a clue either..... He started yelling at me ???????

Later we discussed how hard it is to trap.....and how I won't get him all the stuff he needs..... on and on and on..........I listened and agreed to everything he said.. I'm mean...I'm bad..... shame on me for being such a mean MOM.....

Than I got to talk..... he was surprised .....shocked even... to find out that I don't know anything about trapping... He really thought I knew everything and I was just being mean......He says.."well that explains it...I'm sorry... but I thought you knew everything"

He was even surprised to find out that I don't  know EVERYTHING ?????  So I explained how I like to go with to WATCH and TAKE PICTURES but I don't want to help set traps because it's too hard for me.  That's a big guys job!  He so agreed.  

It's still touch and go as we continue to adjust his meds and adjust to the change......
It's almost funny when he has a light bulb moment........a glimpse of the real world before he fades back.

DR. APPOINTMENT....

The last few mornings were touch and go...... Tom was waking up with a meanness in him.....each morning being a little worse.

I emailed the Dr. ahead of time for his appointment yesterday.  While at the clinic Tom sneered and made fun of people.....threatened to leave a few times and than he was serious and was going to leave.

So I went to the front desk and alerted them we have an Alz. patient ready to make his escape.  They laughed like he wasn't the first and got him in a room.......

There I felt a little closed in with this attitudey  guy...... I tried cracking jokes and that only pissed him off worse.   He sat and told me all the reasons he didn't like me.  I t was hard not to laugh at this guy who was in this cracker box of a room with me.....

The Dr. finally appeared ........ what a lovely sight to behold....... We went through Tom's meds and questions were asked....and answered.  Most everything going over Toms head.... I never know what ideas he will leave the room with as his perception of what was said.

His risperdal was upped and I sang "Glory Hallelujah!!!!"  LOL

"GET ME HOME!!!!"  was all he had to say when we left.  Later I heard him tell his sister his version of what the Dr. said.

He loves his Dr.  which helps and he walked away with that "he needed to take all his prescribed pills and not worry about all the side effects they list on the internet because most of that isn't true.  He even showed us his little computer thing and it didn't show any side effects...... and the Dr. said he was in A-ONE shape!

If that's what he got out of the appointment...it works for me.  I won't have to crush and hide his pills in his food than...... : )

Tom still thinks he IS going camping and trapping by himself in unknown territory.....
THE VERY WORST SCENARIO ......... I go with him........and baby it's cold outside!

Up-Date

Just a quick up date for those who are wondering about the silence (inactivity) on my blogs.

Toms'  body/head is busy adjusting to medication changes.... and changes as in decline so we are kind of bouncing around like a big rubber ball.  Those that KNOW Alz.  know this is a busy time for me. 

 He does have a Dr. apt on the Thursday to work on finding the right combo for him......

Everybody is different so it's not a standard if he does this give him that......There is nothing easy about this disease.

And as Alzheimer's is well known for........ you never know what's next.  Well we aren't where we were and not done going where we are headed....

My yard is all water and mud and my four girls are loving it and I'm not.  But my sister knew how to brighten my day........

Grampa's Shack

In Toms mind, putting in the wood stove was a breeze... it went well and we had fun doing it together.....while the girls scampered around the yard playing with there balls and sticks.

Tom did well when we went to the store to buy parts for the stove..... There was a time we loved shopping together and than the time came that shopping for Tom became a night mare to him.....

Since the new medication he was fine in the store but I still had to help him find what he was looking for.......and when we got to the check out I sent him out to check on the girls in the van......

Tom struggled with what order to do things...... he had trouble fitting pieces together......really wasn't sure what to do... so I tried to guide him in a way he didn't notice.... he did a lot of screaming and hollering out of frustration, but I would calmly redirect so he didn't notice his own confusion.....

BUT I DID LAUGH when he asked me to put the tar (in a caulking tube) on the part that went on the roof.... he watched me struggle to squeeze the caulking gun and yelled out orders like a drill sergeant.... "more here...not to close to the edge .....come on your squeezing it like an old woman.... more over here...geeze I should just do it myself".............  I laughed and said "why aren't you doing it?"  He said "because you want to"............ "No I don't" ....... "Yes you do because you think you know everything."  I said "here...you do it........I want your job.....I want to sit and tell you how to do it and where to put it."    He so didn't get it but did finish the job. LOL

So I agreed with him that it went well and we all had fun doing it together.

GO TO SLEEP!!!!

I am well aware that it takes time for the meds to build up and level off in his system...... I also am aware of some decline...... And where he plateaus is anyone's guess.

So I try not to mind bouncing around like a big rubber ball and just go with things the best I can........ It blows my mind to see how clueless he really is about everything going on around him..... And he thinks he's as sharp as a tack......

Oh Boy! I have some ideas to keep him occupied till spring thaw... I hope it works.

Sheriff Dept.....?

Tom told me this story in broken pieces....I'd ask questions to try to get the whole story and put the events into the right  sequence.......It took awhile because he had a hard time answering what I thought were simple questions.  He didn't seem to notice he wasn't telling it all.....

This is odd because before this rage/decline event he would tell a story in depth and embellish  each time he told it........ Everyone he told was right to the punch line with nothing to add.........

This is what I put together 6 hours later........... they pulled up as he was setting a trap.  They turned their machines off.  They nodded and said hi as did Tom.  The one said "Sheriff Dept."..... Tom thinking it was someone who knew him was pulling a prank and answered "F**k You!"

There were no markings on their snow mobiles, they were wearing snow suits and helmets...... Nothing told Tom they were "law enforcement"

They talked trapping, exchanged names, asked Tom where he lived, Tom told them he had Alz. so he doesn't wonder too far from home, they asked if he is taking medication, he said yes.  Tom shook hands and said nice meeting you when they left ....... he didn't apologize and that's what's eating at him some....

I asked when did he realize they were for real the Sheriff Dept.  He said toward the end when they were ready to leave the other one turned just enough where Tom seen a badge....... that's why he shook hands and made nice.....