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Monday, 10/25 I will be on a live podcast on the Alzauthors.com Podcast. https://alzauthors.com/podcast/ It will be available after the live broadcast.
Two podcasts have inspired me to add some ideas to caring for Lynne. The first came from Wendy P Mitchell, the podcast almost at the end of the list of interviews on the podcast website. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014 at the age of 58. She writes a daily blog to give her facts about the daily world which she always forgets by the next day. She co-wrote a book that has received awards and let to many visits with doctors and speaking engagements. She said her Dementia wants her to sit and not think because she gets more peaceful. She learned she could fight by staying more active.
For example, I learned that when her daughters helped her on with her jacket every time they visited, she forgot how to put it on. She told them to stop and has relearned how. I wanted Lynne to relearn how last night in the first of our weekly Wednesday night movies with dinner. I have had trouble helping her put on her red coat. Yesterday, I gave it to her to put on and helped her only after I saw one sleeve was inside out. When we got to my apartment I told her I’d hang up her jacket and she took it off. When we got ready to leave, I gave her the jacket and she put it on.
Another idea Wendy emphasized is she could restore some of her memory if she worked at it. I turned on Footloose with Kevin Bacon which excited Lynne. She got up right away and walked around. I watched it, I liked it. After two trips around the apartment, she sat down and watched it. We watched it though our Indian Mirch Masala dinner, (“This is really good,” she told me). At the end she was singing the lyrics better than I was. She wanted to hug me with a big smile, so we danced a little to the music. She got back and was ready for bed. I was happy because the time from after dinner to bedtime seems to be her most difficult time because there is little for her to do.
Her future weekly schedule should include: Wednesday Movie night (I have a list of 12 dance musical movies from the 1980s-2010); the boys on Thursday night, car rides on Friday nights, friends on Saturday, Movies and dinner on Sunday afternoons.
I have some other experiments to try. I’ll keep you posted.
Monday, 10/25 I will be on a live podcast on the Alzauthors.com Podcast. https://alzauthors.com/podcast/. It will be available after the live broadcast.
Love this! And the good news is, you could do Footloose again next week. 😁. Let me know if you need some musical/music heavy movie ideas.
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These are awesome practical ideas. Jim, do you know if these are effective for most people living with AZ or dementia? Or is it hit and miss?
The Japanese researcher is applying to a number of people, and Wendy is using for 1/2 sessions twice a week and she is getting some followers. All that said, I think it’s going to work better with some and not others. However it has worked for very serious unresponsive people. So? Tonight I talked with her about my son, her brother, the same way I would have talked with Karen about it. He is working a therapist as we all are because the two of them are really close. She listened and didn’t say much. I left time between my sentences. After dinner, she stood up with concern on her face and said, “Is he going to be OK? And I said yes, because he is working very well with a therapist. Her head nodded, her shouldre relaxed and her smile came back to her face. “Good.”
Love it pops, connecting with our high school years