Hi All, Help
My mum was diagnosed with AD 2 years ago, she is now 88 and still lives in her own flat. Physically she is really very fit except for a bit of a stiff knee. A year ago we organised Carers twice a day, and meals on wheels. She told them not to come again after 2 days. My brother and his wife live 10 minutes away, I live 45 minutes away, so the main personal contact is with my brother and his wife. (I get the 20+ phone calls day and night). She was prescribed Aricept, which half the time, even with prompting she forgets take. Her short term memory is awful.
Our main problem is that she accuses my SIL of stealing from her, apparently my SIL sits outside her flat all day waiting for her to go out! The lastest theft is of her Yellow Pages, hair rollers, and the big one is her dentures. We normally track down the 'stolen' item in the flat, but it has got so bad for my SIL she cannot now visit her on her own, and we dont know how to deal with this aspect of her AD. Another problem is that she doesnt recognise things that are hers, for example her spin dryer, iron, etc. etc. she has accused my SIL of swapping these items, so they are all pilled up behind her front door. I, and my brother have tried very hard to reason with her that these items are indeed hers, and nothing has been stolen, that we all at times lose track of things, but she wont have it. Should we just take them away from behind the front door, because everytime she claps eyes on them she is off on one, and sometimes she gets really aggressive, and she is getting aggressive about the missing dentures. Any advice on the 'stealing' and 'swapping' would be gratefully received. We have just this week organised for a Carer to go in once a day just for a chat to start with, please all keep fingers crossed it works this time, it will take some of the pressure off.
Thanks for listening, it helps to get things off my chest.
Love
Cate
My mum was diagnosed with AD 2 years ago, she is now 88 and still lives in her own flat. Physically she is really very fit except for a bit of a stiff knee. A year ago we organised Carers twice a day, and meals on wheels. She told them not to come again after 2 days. My brother and his wife live 10 minutes away, I live 45 minutes away, so the main personal contact is with my brother and his wife. (I get the 20+ phone calls day and night). She was prescribed Aricept, which half the time, even with prompting she forgets take. Her short term memory is awful.
Our main problem is that she accuses my SIL of stealing from her, apparently my SIL sits outside her flat all day waiting for her to go out! The lastest theft is of her Yellow Pages, hair rollers, and the big one is her dentures. We normally track down the 'stolen' item in the flat, but it has got so bad for my SIL she cannot now visit her on her own, and we dont know how to deal with this aspect of her AD. Another problem is that she doesnt recognise things that are hers, for example her spin dryer, iron, etc. etc. she has accused my SIL of swapping these items, so they are all pilled up behind her front door. I, and my brother have tried very hard to reason with her that these items are indeed hers, and nothing has been stolen, that we all at times lose track of things, but she wont have it. Should we just take them away from behind the front door, because everytime she claps eyes on them she is off on one, and sometimes she gets really aggressive, and she is getting aggressive about the missing dentures. Any advice on the 'stealing' and 'swapping' would be gratefully received. We have just this week organised for a Carer to go in once a day just for a chat to start with, please all keep fingers crossed it works this time, it will take some of the pressure off.
Thanks for listening, it helps to get things off my chest.
Love
Cate