The Miserable Facts of Life

Princess Sadie in Her Christmas Frock

I think it's time we stop fooling ourselves, then again this latest slip is recent.  Like I wrote a few weeks ago, APR was doing great.  He has gone down hill, visibly.  We were at lunch today at Cattle Baron. Heather, who works there, told me she noticed a big change today.  I've not seen him since Sunday, and I see a difference.

We keep making excuses.  He doesn't feel good, has a little bit of the bug going around.  When he says he doesn't feel like eating that vile banana pudding they serve on Cattle Baron's salad bar, I know he isn't feeling good.  He was having spatial difficulties today with his food.  He loves ribs.  I sure wish I ate meat, because they looked fantastic.  Anyone who knows my father, knows he can clean a rib better than a piranha. Heather brought them out, along with the bone plate.  He reached for the little hand wipe, and had a hard time opening it.  My mother had to tell him he didn't need it.  She cut the meat off the ribs, but he didn't eat them.  He didn't touch his potato.  This will then start the battle with her trying to feed him tonight, to get him to eat.    She had tanked him up on a protein shake about 12:30, so that may have made a difference.

This morning he was fairly okay with things.  We can usually discuss the news.  He follows politics quite well.  He was just out of everything.  Couldn't focus. He does the sundowners thing, late in the afternoon.  The other day, he thought my mother was his old girlfriend, Jackie.  He wasn't going to go put on his jammies because he did not think it was proper being in the house with his girlfriend. 

Last Friday the neurologist and hit my mother right between the eyes with what was going on with the disease.  It hit her quit hard.  She had been approaching this with a sense of humor.  Today at lunch she was in tears.  I don't think she realized exactly what was going to happen.  The day before, he was extremely lucid.  They were doing some paperwork.  He was far more with it than she was.  I can't believe the difference in a week.

Maybe it is because he isn't feeling good.  You grasp at straws.  They were to get their B-12 shots today.  It will be interesting to see if that makes a difference.  He's also been using frozen strawberries instead of fresh.  There could be a difference with that, also.

 

Flu You!

Christmas (What Else?)

My mother is down with the flu.  Did meals on wheels.  APR does incredible when he is required to take responsibility!   Very few fuzzies, which is great.  Took him fried chicken.  Told me he needed a soda for the pizza.  My mother looked at him like had Alzheimer's.  He found the frozen pizza I brought him.  My mother said he takes better care of her now that he has Alzheimer's than when he didn't!

Cathy and Laura were here at Christmas.  Both noticed he is better than he was in August.  Like Cathy said, he's doing much better than he was in Feb when they started working on a diagnosis.  The B-12 shots are amazing!

He had problems late in the afternoon, around 5:30, but, once he eats, he comes out of it.  While Cathy was here, he was quite on the mark.  The more excitement, the better he does.  He did chores all day today for my mother.  Called me to tell me she wasn't feeling good.  Just fairly up on things.

Then again, he totally screwed up the gas delivery, but they'd been warned about the Alzheimer's - so he does have his moments.  But - right now, there are far more good moments than bad ones.  Wouldn't it be wild if the B-12 shots actually worked!