Here we go..

OK - have been going to start this blog for awhile, so I apologize it wasn't up sooner.  Thought we could create this blog so everyone can go in and read what is going on with Chuck.   You can also post comments or observations, after visiting with the folks.   Dad has good days, and not so good days.  The not so good seem to be getting to be a regular thing, which from everything I have read and seen, is common as someone enters the 3rd stage of Alz.  There are 3 stages, and the 3rd stage is when the person becomes very disoriented, even in their own home.  The person also tends to sleep more, gets paranoid, and doesn't have much of an appetite.  It's common for them to not want to have anything to do with personal hygiene, and do things that would be totally out of character.  I remember one of the first support group meetings Mom and I went to, and the nurse was explaining how many of her patients begin swearing for the first time in their lives.  Mom made the comment that Dad will never swear.  Well, guess what?  He is swearing - damn and hell.  I hope the Alz Dad doesn't drop an F bomb one day, 'cuz that will push Mom over the edge.   Dad has become more childlike, and the relationship he has with Mom now, is more of a mother/child, not husband/wife.   I know Mom tries to be patient, but I think she has probably had as much as she can take.   The holidays are particularly hard for her, because she thinks about how Dad used to be, and the fact that he is not aware of much, really gets to her.   I have a friend at work, whose dad was injured in a car accident at the age of 62.   He was pretty much paralyzed from the waist down, and her mom took care of him for 20 years.   She said that from her experience, the best thing people could do to help, was to just call and ask if it was OK to stop by and visit.   Or, offer to stay with her dad while he mom got out.   She said if anyone asked her mom what she needed, she would tell them she was fine.  Hmmm...something to think about.

Feel free to share any interactions with Chuck, or even a fun a memory.   When we talk to either Mom or Dad, or spend some time with them, we will update the blog so everyone will have an idea what's going on.

Celia