Ground Hog Day

caberr

Does anyone else feel like they are in that movie?  Get up in the am, DH uses the bathroom. I clean the bathroom, he takes a shower, breakfast and his pills. (For the past few weeks even breakfast is the same everyday) clean the kitchen and sometimes the floor where he sits.  Uses the bathroom and clean it again. Listens to music. Try to get him out for a walk.  Then its time for lunch.  Make lunch, clean the kitchen and the floor,  Then he listens to music again.  As the day goes on never know what to expect. Pacing, confusion, questions about what I don't know. Clean the bathroom again.  Time for dinner, make dinner.  Clean the kitchen and floor. Some tv, more pacing then time for bed.  Can't find the stairs, help with that, show him the bathroom, clean the bathroom, get him into pj's then into bed.  Put on his cpap machine (most times no fight other times just forget the cpap).  Then I come back downstairs turn off lights, lock doors go back up get myself ready for bed.  Thankfully he sleeps until 4 or 5:30 uses the bathroom and goes back to bed for a bit.  I get up and start all over again.  Whew.....it's a long day!

sandwichone123

That sounds like a long day, but what sounds most difficult about it is that it's a treadmill. You do all that, but never get anywhere. Tomorrow starts the same place today did. I have no reassuring words, although I do look for them.

toolbeltexpert

Caberr yes I do. I haven't seen the movie but I looked it up a couple weeks ago cause everyone here use that reference Ground hog day.  The daily repeat. Same thing everyday. I get up early clean what I can. I vacuum, dw is deaf without hearing aides. Prep our devotional, make breakfast, Bagels and fruit cocktail most mornings.ect,ect,ect. I always hope to get thru the day without Tipping over the apple cart. Your routine sounds much harder, you are a great caregiver.

JDancer

Each time I walk through the bedroom in the morning if my LO is still in bed I get a, "Good Morning, Honey." Sometimes 4-5 times. I don't know why, but it drives me crazy.  I should be grateful that he's pleasant.

amicrazytoo

BINGO! - Yep, it is the same as the movie. Over and over again. Makes for a very long day, week, month. Keep in mind you are not alone.  Others are here to offer support.

Ann-20904

The repetitions of questions, comments, etc. is what really is driving me crazy.  Said once is reasonable but over and over and over. And it’s driven some folks away.  My husband of 54 years has been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment but it’s much more than that.  Literally no short term memory.  He can perform simple tasks if done immediately but after a few minutes, it’s as though he never heard it.  This is the first time I have posted.  The days are getting increasingly difficult.  It’s hard to spend time with him and I know he’s enough aware to realize that.

toolbeltexpert

Ann 20904 welcome to the forum. You are not alone your describing my dw. She starts something and 10 secs later it's laying there and she's onto something else. Questions are hard,sometimes you just don't know if the answer is gonna cause more trouble. Keep posting

ImMaggieMae

Ann, welcome! I’m glad you found this forum. It has been very helpful to me. I’ve thought about the Ground Hog movie many times. For the past 8 or 9 months it’s felt exactly like that. One day is like the next, week days, weekends, holidays, whatever. My DH’s dementia has moved from MCI to somewhere in the late moderate stage very quickly. It’s taken a long time to realize that arguing or reasoning with him is useless. I’m thankful that he isn’t aggressive. But repeating the same thing over and over or repetitive behaviors are beyond frustrating. It’s my nature to want to make things better and crushingly sad to know that for the most part I can’t.

Gig Harbor

Welcome Ann. One thing I did was to hire two companions for my husband. He does all his own care so I didn’t need actual caregivers. These ladies split three days a week and someone is here Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11-3. I said their only job is walking with him, fixing his lunch and playing music and talking to him. I said all I want is for him to have their undivided attention. This way I know that for 12 hours a week he can talk to his heart’s content about his family, jobs etc. It is a good break for me and I am more patient when I get home.

FTDCaregiver

Yes, for me it's more like the movie "Boss Level" where each day this guy wakes up trying to avoid death but keeps dying over and over again because he failed to get out of the way of a bus or some other calamity, but he learns each day to avoid how he died before...gets a bit further each day until finally one day, he avoids all the calamities and he's out. Will that day arrive for me?  I keep going to bed after the same routine every day in, day out.

Iris L.

If there is any "treatment" for dementia, it is proactively creating an environment of Ground Hog Day.  PWDs cannot tolerate stress or change too much.  It may be uncomfortable for caregivers.  I have always said that PWDs need to live in a bubble--away from stress and anything negative.  This is what I am working on for myself.  It's hard for me because the dysfunctional world keeps breaking into my bubble.  But I learned this from reading the caregiver posts.

Iris