A life in the day of.........................

[Skye]

But as we witness the decline, we feel we should be doing something, we worry in case we have missed something, we doubt our own reasoning.

It is so hard to sit and let it happen.

That's so true, and the feeling never goes away. There's always something we should have done differently, better. And I'm sure the feeling will persist right to the end, and beyond.

For me, as you know, my major fret is John's UTI, which should heave been picked up earlier.

I'l working bloody hard to make sure that doesn't happen to anyone else, in our area at least, but part of me accepts that it's the illness, and no-one could have done anything.

But that's only on a good day. On a bad day, .......

We can only do our best, and I'm afraid the illness is going to win in the end.

Love,

 

[Grannie G]

The fear of UTIs could make us all neurotic.

Confusion is part and parcel of dementia. UTIs increase confusion. When Dhiren fell and broke his arm 2 years ago, he was found to have a UTI. There were no symptoms other than an increase in confusion.

And another thought relating to my previous post.

Although we all have a rough idea what to expect, we have no idea of the sequence of loss. Loss of ability. loss of skills, loss of mobility, loss of senses, loss of language, loss of appetite, loss of muscle tone, all come at different times for different sufferers.

UTIs seem to exacerbate some of these losses so we can forgive ourselves for not always recognizing them.

 

[gigi]

Uti...

Hello!

he was found to have a UTI. There were no symptoms other than an increase in confusion.

....

So this could be the case with Eric..but how would I know?

He doesn't appear to have a temperature.
He isn't going to the loo any more frequently.
He doesn't complain of any urinary symptoms.
He is becoming more lethargic and confused and withdrawn.
And, yes, I do doubt what I'm seeing sometimes..and wonder if it's my imagination..but when other people notice changes it confirms those changes for me.

But I can hardly drag him to the doctors and say.."I was wondering if..."
Although I suppose I could pop into the surgery tomorrow and ask for a specimen bottle..and take it down to be tested.
Then how do I broach the subject with Eric..? And how do I it without causing him concern?

Any ideas..anybody???

Thanks.

love gigi xx

 

[Grannie G]

Hello Gigi.

Just off the top of my head, could you tell Eric everyone over 70 is being tested for diabetes?

Love xx

 

[gigi]

Hello Sylvia!

could you tell Eric everyone over 70 is being tested for diabetes?

Nice one!!
I'll give it a try!
Will call into the surgery tomorrow and pick up a bottle!!!

Love gigi xx

 

[Lynne]

Gigi

Good idea, but I think you will find that you still have to get a Doctor or practice nurse to sign off the lab test form, specifying (in hieroglyphics ) to test for UTI and diabetic tendency. They have to account for the costs of the lab work.

He`s delighted he`s lost so much (weight) & asked if I was jealous.

I hope that was said with a cheeky grin?

Regards

 

[Grannie G]

I hope that was said with a cheeky grin?

Sadly not Lynne. It is the one thing he can do better than me.

 

[gigi]

Doctor or practice nurse to sign off the lab test form, specifying (in hieroglyphics ) to test for UTI and diabetic tendency. They have to account for the costs of the lab work.

Thanks Lynne..there is a dipstick test that can be done prior to sending the specimen off.

I have a cunning plan..

I'll take the specimen to my old place of work and dip it myself.. if the test shows blood or protein/leucocytes or nitrites..then I'll contact Eric's doctor ....

(I used to be a practice nurse...)

Love gigi xx

 

[Lynne]

Aha ..

Inside job then, Gigi

 

[Grannie G]

Day Centre Week 3

Thank goodness Dhiren went to bed early last night and slept well.

This morning he was up washed and dressed in time and sat with the paper whilst I was at the computer.
And then we chatted about all the different houses we had lived in.

The doorbell rang.
D `Who`s that?`
S `It`s clinic day.`
D `What clinic?`
S `Where you see C. `
He was slightly puzzled but not resistant, no dirty looks today, so off he went.

He returned at 4pm. waved goodbye to the transport attendants, told me he`d had a good day, and is now fast asleep.

Tomorrow, C will be taking us to the Alzheimers Cafe, so I will be able to ask how it went.
Our social life is looking up.

 

[BeadieJay]

told me he`d had a good day,

WOW, you couldn't ask for a better day than that - I'm so pleased for you, for both of you, because I know it's just as important to you that Dhiren enjoy his day as well.

I hope tomorrow goes as well

 

[Skye]

Our social life is looking up.

Good news, Sylvia!

It sounds as if Dhiren is quite happy with the 'clinic'.

Love,

 

[Grannie G]

Thank you BeadieJay and Hazel.

Lovely to see you back on line BeadieJay

Dhiren had a short nap and is fine. He couldn`t tell me where he`d been or what he`d done. All he could say was he had no money and was embarrassed he couldn`t pay for his lunch and drinks.

He doesn`t need to go again.

 

[Skye]

Hi BeadieJay

Good to see you back online, I was wondering what had happened to you.

I hope everything's OK?

Love,

 

[Helen33]

Hello sylvia

This time you didn't mention that you were fretting or exhausted Could it be that you, too, found it more a part of the new routine? Anyway, hope you spent some of the spare time writing that book

Love Helen

 

[Grannie G]

Hello Helen.

I did some house work, went to the bank, had a leisurely lunch and an almond slice and got on with the book.

I was very relaxed today, thank you. Very relaxed indeed. It was lovely.

 

[Helen33]

Hi Sylvia

That is so good to hear my friend We had a relaxing day too and Alan seemed happy pottering in the garden whilst I read my book between little jobs. The sun was shining

Love Helen

 

[gigi]

Apologies Sylvia...

Hello!

don't want to be hijacking your thread..but

Inside job then, Gigi

Lynne...I'm lucky in that respect. To get Eric's GP involved is a route I dread..start phoning at 8 in the morning..book a telephone consultation..wait for him to ring me..then the explaining..and if Eric isn't asleep he will hear what's being said..or worse..may pick up the phone..
If I want to book an appointment to see him it will be in 3 or 4 weeks time..there are other doctors available for emergencies..but Eric doesn't know them..and they don't know Eric

Hope I didn't come across as being a bit "know it all"..it wasn't intended. I'm just using my wits..what's left of them..

Sylvia...sounds like you'll have to be buying a new wardrobe..all these social gatherings...
Am so delighted that today went well..Dhiren seems to be much more stable..that can only be good..

Love gigi xx

 

[Grannie G]

Good things are worth waiting for

We went to the Alzheimers cafe today for the first time.

C took us, refusing to let us down despite a personal upset of her own.

When we arrived the first thing we saw on entering the building were rails of dresses, skirts and tops....all the clothes Dhiren used to sell. It was a clothed show. He was so excited, he examined the sizes to see if they were all there and we told the person selling the clothes about Dhiren`s past business.

Dhiren nearly hijacked this person`s business though as he was aghast at the prices of the clothes.
`£20 for this dress, `he exclaimed, `I used to sell these for 49/11d` He searched the rails exclaiming with pleasure when he found clothes he remembered. He was so excited to see a replica of his old business.

The cafe was bright and cheerful and quite busy. The Admiral nurse was there, we had a chat, whilst C chatted with Dhiren. It was a very pleasant couple of hours.

On our way out, Dhiren turned back and left us standing. he wanted to talk to the shopkeeper.
C and I eavesdropped and were in fits as Dhiren asked the wholesale cost of the dresses and tried to work out how much profit was being made.

The shopkeeper was very kind and patient and took no offence. Thank goodness!

When we arrived home I presumed this afternoon was in lieu of Friday afternoon`s visit. But no. C will visit again next Friday.

Paul came this evening. He was so impressed and relieved with the change in his father. What a difference.

 

[BeadieJay]

Thank you Sylvia and Hazel

Hi BeadieJay

Good to see you back online, I was wondering what had happened to you.

I hope everything's OK?

Love,

Thank you, wow, what a lovely welcome back, most unexpected but very much appreciated!!

I thought it was about time I stopped lurking, but don't really have much to share about my parents. They both seem to be keeping well (I haven't seen them since December, though we speak on the phone of course), and neither of them seem to have deteriorated, but continue day to day with writing down everything that they do because they can't remember the last 5 minutes.

We've been back in our home 8 weeks now, since moving out to have the house repaired after last July's flood. My poor parents were terribly confused by the whole thing, not helped by the fact that we kept changing our plans. We had decided to stay at home, but have a caravan outside the house where we could sit during the day, and have somewhere to cook, and then sleep in our house at night. Then we had to move out completely so that the house could be rewired, so we ended up renting a house for 4 months while the work was done. Whenever I spoke to my dad during this time, he'd say "so, you're in the rented house during the day, and then you go back to your own house at night?". For such an intelligent man, it really hurt that he couldn't see how illogical this was, but he was confused because this was what we'd planned to do if we had a caravan. Groan - it was a nightmare time, but we have a lovely newly decorated home (re-decorated throughout, which was a big bonus), and nice new furniture. The only problem is, it doesn't feel like home (apparently a lot of flooded people feel like this when they move home - because everything is so different.)

My children break up from school tomorrow - my son has chronic fatigue syndrome, he's had it for almost 2 years now, but was only diagnosed earlier this year. I'm glad it's the holidays because now we can let him play outside whenever he wants, without worrying that he won't be well enough for school the next day! I'm looking forward to 6 weeks of not having to watch the clock, and also 6 weeks of not having to get up at the crack of dawn!! I just wish I didn't have 6 weeks of the kids moaning because they're bored, or fighting over who watches what on the t.v. LOL

Sorry, I'm taking over Sylvia's thread with my tales!

Sylvia, was today your visit to the Alzheimers cafe? I hope it went well.

Edited to add, that it looks like you had a great time, how lovely for Dhiren to have something so familiar there, he must have been in his element. I'm so happy for you both