New Member to Talking Point

[lihi]

Hello everyone,
I am a new member who is starting a journey along with my husband, caring for my Father in Law. My Father in Law is fit and healthy apart from his Alzheimers.

We are now looking to others for support as we are finding day to day life very difficult.
My FIL's condition changes daily and we are hoping to find some answers in your postings. We already have LPA in place, however I am overwhelmed how quickly our life is no longer our own. I found this very difficult in the beginning, but we have now fallen into a gentle pattern of daily care.

Question - I always assumed that the calendar my FIL has always used would support his memory on what day it is, as he ticks this off daily, however the more information I provide on this calendar the worse he has become. He will call us 30 times a day aksing why we have not picked him up for his dinner, even though this is the wrong day.
Should I stop adding things?

**Merry Christmas to you all, and thank you for all your comments, which are already supporting us to make the right decisons and become better carer's**

Question - I also had delivered today, a book called 'Dementia' The Journey Ahead, I know this was written in America, however can anyone else recommend andother essential reading material?

 

[creativesarah]

Question - I also had delivered today, a book called 'Dementia' The Journey Ahead, I know this was written in America, however can anyone else recommend andother essential reading material?

Welcome to TP


I read Still Alice a novel about what it's like to have dementia Its written by a Harvard Proffesor Lisa Genova and gave a glimpse into a sufferers world but I found it very possitive

Sorry I seem to be having trouble with my spelling today

I am sure others will come along with great ideas and support

Sarah

 

[Grannie G]

Hello lihi

Welcome to Talking Point .

Although many people have been helped by the books which have been written about dementia, I could never read them through because there are so many differences. I found reading TP the most helpful because I would identify with certain posters more than with others.

I do understand your father in law's problems with the calendar. 1 ) probably too much information on one page, I think if you are going to get any benefit, it needs a page for each day, and 2) his not knowing precisely what day it actually is. In addition, if he has memory problems he will forget he might have spoken to you previously.

I don't know how you get round this. My husband would look at the paper to see what day and date it was. If he happened to have been looking at yesterday's paper it wasn't much help.

Anyway other might have more constructive suggestions for you. I just wanted to welcome you.

 

[lihi]

Welcome to TP


I read Still Alice a novel about what it's like to have dementia Its written by a Harvard Proffesor Lisa Genova and gave a glimpse into a sufferers world but I found it very possitive

Sorry I seem to be having trouble with my spelling today

I am sure others will come along with great ideas and support

Sarah

Thank you for your reply, I will take a look at the book.

 

[lihi]

Welcome to Talking Point .

Although many people have been helped by the books which have been written about dementia, I could never read them through because there are so many differences. I found reading TP the most helpful because I would identify with certain posters more than with others.

I do understand your father in law's problems with the calendar. 1 ) probably too much information on one page, I think if you are going to get any benefit, it needs a page for each day, and 2) his not knowing precisely what day it actually is. In addition, if he has memory problems he will forget he might have spoken to you previously.

I don't know how you get round this. My husband would look at the paper to see what day and date it was. If he happened to have been looking at yesterday's paper it wasn't much help.

Anyway other might have more constructive suggestions for you. I just wanted to welcome you.

No, thank you, your reply is most welcome. My FIL has a paper each day and I will encourage him to look at this daily.

 

[CollegeGirl]

Hi and welcome to the forum from me too!

My dad has just been given a booklet called 10 Helpful Hints for Carers, produced by the University of Stirling.

I think if we'd had this booklet from the start it would have helped us, indeed I still think it's helped me to read it even now. It's never too late, we're all still learning how to deal with this illness.

You can also get clocks that show the day and date; perhaps one of these would be helpful to your FiL?