Interacting with family

r001norris

My DW was diagnosed about 2 years ago with Alzheimer’s, the Dr told me she is at “moderate dementia”. A few weeks ago her sister came and had a nice visit, but my DW told her friend that her sister and her had a screaming argument. I mentioned this to her Dr and he told me to change the subject when she has a false memory. I can’t get her to go on a 2 hour car trip to see our 4 year old grandson, when we plan it, she feels “ sick” that day and can’t go. I usually go by myself, and get her friend to stop by and check on her while I’m gone. Is either of these common?

Emily 123

Hello,

Yes, these are not unusual. Here are a few good videos that helped me, and please read the 'Dementia Experience' pdf and the the Tam Cummings DBAT handouts.

understanding-the-dementia-experience.pdf

Tam-Cummings-LLC-Handouts-2.pdf

Any of the You Tube videos by Teepa Snow are excellent, you can just search for them by her name. These are a good start too…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cZTgG6kDjs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awBm4S9NwJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO50pVUOlbE

brupt30

Oh my gosh, this sounds so familiar! My DH has three siblings and he has had lovely long phone conversations with each of them (they all live far away). Then a few hours after each call (and for the next several days), he gets very upset/obsessed about the "fight" that he had on the phone and how they are so cruel to him. There is no distraction and it's very upsetting for both of us. I'm trying to get an appointment with a geriatric psychiatrist to change his meds and work on the constant confabulation and agitation. PCP and neurologist both say that he is maxed out on his current drug regimen and will need to see geri-psych.

He also has initiated plans to go to lunch or breakfast with friends (with me arranging transportation and inviting families to join) but always cancels on the specific day because he doesn't feel well. I have decided that we can't continue to cancel on these folks and will need to just host gatherings at home since his participation is so unreliable. Probably will need to just set things up without telling him, since the anticipatory anxiety is paralyzing for him.