Category: Dementia

Years before Elizabeth was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s she began not knowing what day it was. I do not now recall how this corresponded to the beginning of memory lapses. I tried several strategies to help her know the day and date – like calendars prominently on the counter with all the prior days of the month crossed out.

At some point, I began to wonder, how do I know what day it is? I paid attention to how I determine the day when I get up in the morning. I saw that, in fact, it is one of the first thoughts I usually have, and I watched the process take place in my brain. It became clear that my knowing the day is based on memory. I recall a few details from the prior day until they make clear what day it was yesterday or they may be memories of activities I had planned for today. Anyway, it became clear, knowing what day it is requires memories of yesterday.

So, it is understandable that not knowing what day it is may be an early indication of dementia.

I am posting this here as an opening to share impressions and reflections from our experiences with Dementia. I hope that, in a small way, it may help others identify, understand and live with the diseases characterized by dementia.

The gist is, my love, Elizabeth has moderate-sever dementia. I believe evident symptoms appeared about ten years ago and she was diagnosed in Dec 2016. Anyone who spent time with us in the mid-2010’s may have sensed something was amiss.

To clarify a little how things are with us, I can say, Elizabeth has virtually no short-term memory and very little long-term memory and she needs help doing most daily activities. Beyond that, she has not significantly developed the more difficult emotional symptoms of anger and paranoia. Emotionally, she is generally happy and content, or at worst, withdrawn and distant. In fact, I believe she is consistently happier since about the time of her diagnosis than any time since I have known her. “Every stick has two ends.”

As for myself, caring for Elizabeth is generally not difficult. In fact, it is mostly a pleasure. The main impact for me is that I am largely a shut-in, only able generally to do short outings. Though my stepdaughters are available and help when I need to do something longer and for occasional breaks. Overall, I feel quite blessed and have nothing to complain about.

I expect to share more of my experiences with the disease on my here and on Facebook.

Feel free to share this with anyone you think will be interested. I am happy to connect with others living with these diseases.