My mom had dementia and she stayed at home until the end. It was no better.
Yeah, I think we were all in denial (to some degree) of how bad Jack really was, before the catheter issue forced him into assisted living. He lived alone for almost 7 years after his wife died, and I think it's mostly luck that nothing horrible happened.
By the end Mom didn't know what was going on and who say truly horrible things to my sister and the caregivers.
Yeah, he's losing his politeness to some degree; the other day I sat on his loveseat specifically so his easy chair would be free for him. He came out of the bathroom, looked at me, and said "You're in my seat. Get out."
Guys, it is HARD for me to not immediately bite his head off. My temper is still something I work on. Apparently my eyes bugged out like Marty Feldman, but I didn't bite his head off, because I know there's no point to that. I jumped up while saying, "I thought you'd want your chair; that's why I sat here." He just said "I don't want that damn chair. You sit there." Geez Louise.
He's also losing his filter and says inappropriate things about women (and sometimes girls). I wasn't sure how to address that, because he's not my actual dad. But then one day Oldest Brother cut Jack off with "Dad, that's inappropriate. Stop it." So that's what I'm going with the next time he busts out with creeper shit.
I so sorry, Steph. That sounds incredibly hard.
The facility has a support group once a month for family of people with dementia, and I'm trying to round up Tim and the bros and SiLs to go. I think it will be helpful.
Oh, wait, I think my package is Zoo uniform shirts for Casper, who is spending the summer as a VolunTEEN, not pants for Jack. Sorry.
(Also, I am so proud of Casper. She wrote an application and interviewed and everything!)
I hope the support group is helpful, Steph. It all sounds very hard.
There's a show on PBS tonight that looks fun, called Wild West.
This looks interesting. I'll have to see if my local PBS is carrying it.
PantsGate 2017 Update: no one has ordered pants yet. I am deeply confused about that, because after Interfering Aunt stirred up shit, one SiL replied that pants had been ordered. That was before Easter. But whatever. One of the bros said he'll order them tonight.
Soon, a nation will be able to rest easy, secure in the knowledge that Jack will have new pants.
Amazing, Brenda! It is a weirdly small world.
D'oh! That's why I was there in December or whenever that was.
Puppy ~ma to brenda!
And pants ~ma to Jack!
flea, that sounds like an incredibly cool summer for Casper.
Go Casper! That's awesome.
Hm, maybe someone said pants were ordered just to shut Interfering Aunt up? I am riveted to this saga.
I feel so lucky that my great grandmother, who is the only member of my family who has suffered from dementia, so far, during my lifetime, while she never knew who I was was always glad to see me. Possibly because I strongly resemble her sister. Not that she ever thought I was her sister, but she always thought I was someone she knew - a neighbor, her friend from school, somebody. So much more pleasant for me than my poor uncle who reminded her of someone she was mad at half the time. Anyway, what brought that to mind is that she clearly did not think of herself as her actual age, or even as an adult, a lot of the time and I can see how that kind of confusion might lead to inappropriate comments.
I have been told that there is one thermostat for our whole building (except the server room that has its own air conditioner, if course), which is a warehouse with parts of it made into offices. Some places are always cold, some are always hot, and that's just kind of how it is. Fortunately, we all have company fleeces from working the Outlet Sale after Thanksgiving, so it is easy to throw another layer on if you are heading to a meeting where it is cold.
That's so awesome for Casper!
D'oh! That's why I was there in December or whenever that was.
Oh yeah! It is all coming back to me. That seems like a really long time ago, though.
