Learning How to Use Alzheimer's World to Your Advantage

The goal is to learn how to understand, cope, and communicate with someone that is deeply forgetful.

By Bob DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room

Harvey
My Alzheimer's Caregiver
Assistant

Some of you will recall that I went away for two days in January and left Dotty with the A Team -- Jim and Ruth. Dotty did wonderfully well.

I talked to Dotty on the phone about 6 times, and she seemed happy and content. All seemed to be going well, except Ruth told me that Dotty was asking with increasing frequency where I was. This meant increasing angst.

I should mention this. When Dotty is with Jim and Ruth she is rarely alone. They talk to her and include her in on everything they do. Aha.

Dotty gets lots of attention, and Food.

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Jim and Ruth have this wonderful facility to treat Dotty the way they always have. They know what is going on, but it does not seem to affect in any way their ability to talk with her. Frankly, they act the way they always have. Aha. One thing this does is put Dotty in the WayBac machine.

When I returned in January, after a few minutes Dotty had her arms folded across her chest. A sure sign that she was upset. When a person crosses their arms while talking to you, they are shutting you out. There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, if it is cold, or if you feel cold you might cross your arms to warm up.

In January, Dotty pushed me away when I went to hug her. Clearly, she was upset with me. Fortunately, with some good direct communication and good attitude, I was able to bring her around in a couple of hours.

With that experience in mind, I decided to take direct action this time around.

As soon as I arrived home from New York, I went in the house and put on some shorts and a T shirt. I then hurried over to Jim and Ruth's.

I went over to Jim and Ruth's and blew right in the door. As soon as I saw Dotty I said, are you ever going to come home? Harvey and I have been patiently waiting for you to come home. Harvey told me to tell you, to come home so he has someone to talk too.

Dotty looked at me sorta bewildered. Before she knew what happened I gave her a hug and said, we need to get moving we have a big day in front of us. She wanted to know what big day? I told her don't worry we have a lot to do (note: in Alzheimer's World you don't have to explain).

We then sat around and talked to Jim and Ruth for a bit.

Once we arrived home, I took the offensive. I said to Dotty, we need to go to this store, and that store, then we need to go get something to eat. I gave her a cup of coffee and then I started yaking with Harvey.

I said: Dotty where were you? Harvey repeated: Dotty where were you?, Dotty where were you?.

I said: Dotty we missed you. Harvey repeated: Dotty we missed you, Dotty we missed you.

I said: Dotty I bet you had a good time. Harvey repeated: Dotty I bet you had a good time, Dotty I bet you had a good time.

By now Dotty started telling Harvey to shut up, and other things she usually says to him.

Next, I took Dotty for a pee. And then she laid down and went out like a light. She was sleeping away, hard. I watched her for a while. I concluded that thinking about where I was and when I was coming back really wore her out. It was noon time.

When Dotty woke up I said, wow, you were out cold. You must have had a great time. She asked, great time doing what? I said, I don't know, you were the one that was having all the fun (note: in Alzheimer's World there is no need to explain yourself).

From there we segwayed right back into our life, as if nothing had happened or changed. And, as if I was never gone.

Was I? Or, was Dotty the one that was away for two days?

And now to my point. You just have to think positive, get over into Alzheimer's World, and make it happen.

Alzheimer's World is a really good place if you want it to be.

You get to choose.

I did.

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Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 3,461 articles with more than 397,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

You Can't See the Forrest for the Trees

You and I travel to the beat of a different drum

Oh can't you tell by the way I run

Every time you make eyes at me

Wo-oh

You cry and moan and say it will work out

But honey child I've got my doubts

You can't see the forest for the trees

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Banyan Tree

Every time we drive through Sherwood Forrest Dotty marvels at the size and shape of the Banyan trees. The Banyan trees are about 60 feet tall. Maybe taller.

I would estimate that Dotty has seen the same exact trees over 7,000 times. But now, each time its for the first time.

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Five years ago it would be unsettling to me when Dotty would start talking about those trees. She would marvel, look at those trees. Look how big they are. I can't believe it. I have never seen so many trees.

What did I do? I would remind Dotty that she had seen those trees thousands of times. It was somehow important for me to remind her. Of course, this would sometimes cause Dotty to become confused. It might even cause her to tell me that I was full of poop. Her words were not kind.

Eventually, I made my way into Alzheimer's World. After I made it into the World I started looking at things from Dotty's point of view. Why should I be upset if she asked me what day it was ten times? If she needed to know what day it was, she needed to know. After all, don't we all need to know what day it is? How would you know where to be, or where to go, or what to do if you never knew what day it was?

Once I made it to Alzheimer's World, I started to look at the world from Dotty's point of view. I tried to think and feel like she was thinking and feeling. I often asked myself, why? Why is she acting this way? Why is she feeling this way? I also stopped making it all about me. Instead, I made it about Dotty, and about us. I stopped complaining and saying, can you believe she does this, and she does that. I replaced words like she, me, and you, with words like we and us.

Once into Alzheimer's World, I started listening to Dotty. The sound of her voice. What was I hearing? Confusion? Anger? Happiness? Joy? I listened.

Today when Dotty starts marveling at the size or the number of trees, I'll be listening to her voice. I'll hear how amazed she is. How happy she sounds. I'll listen to her words. I'll feel happy. I'll also notice that those banyan trees are big and beautiful. Amazing looking in fact. Each and every time if you pay attention.

Way back when, when Dotty would act like she never saw those trees before in her life I would get sad. I would need to remind her she had seen them thousands of times. I was burdened.

Now, I listen to Dotty's sweet voice. Hear how really amazed she is feeling. It makes me feel happy. We get along better these days.

I finally learned to look at the trees.




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• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
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• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
• Driving with Alzheimer's Can Mean Death
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 3,461 articles with more than 397,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Cure Alzheimer's Fund Meeting, and Leaving Dotty in the Hands of Others

I'm off to meet the principals of the Cure Alzheimer's Fund and Rudy Tanzi, and another exciting adventure for Dotty and me.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Later today I am off to Naples, Florida to meet with the "people" from the Cure Alzheimer's Fund (CAF). For me this is exciting "stuff".

I'll be meeting with the Founders of the CAF including Henry McCance. I will also be meeting with Tim Armour, the President, and Rudy Tanzi, among a long list of people.

Of course, this also means I will be leaving Dotty with our good friends Jim and Ruth overnight.

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I'm not real worried about Dotty as Jim and Ruth are the best, and I left Dotty in their "good hands" for two days back in January. Nevertheless, I still have to juggle my feelings and emotions. I think most of you understand what I mean.

See Can Dotty Make it Two Days Without Me? The Answer.

Dotty has been a bit of a pest lately because she has a urinary tract infection. It looks like the medication is working, however.

For me the Cure Alzheimer's Fund is the number one go to place if you want to donate to Alzheimer's Research. I am a big fan of the venture philanthropy approach. No one can doubt the commitment of the Founders of the CAF, they pay all the administrative and operational cost of the Fund out of their own pockets. This means 100 percent of every donation goes directly into Alzheimer's Research.

You might remember the frenzy that was caused when Gary Landreth, and his colleagues at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, released a research report showing that Bexarotene

quickly and dramatically improved brain function and social ability and restored the sense of smell in mice bred with a form of Alzheimer's disease.

Bexartone is an existing cancer drug that has been approved for the treatment of cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for more than a decade.

The Cure Alzheimer’s Fund participated in the early stage funding of this research!

You can read about the long list of Cure Alzheimer's Fund's funded research projects here -- FUNDED RESEARCH.

You will notice Rudy Tanzi's important Alzheimer’s Genome Project right at the top of the list. More than $5,000,000 invested so far. Learn more about the Alzheimer’s Genome Project -- here.

If you would like to donate to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund click the red button.

I'll write more about the meeting and how we did with Dotty later in the week.


More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

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• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
• Driving with Alzheimer's Can Mean Death
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Just Let the Deeply Forgetful Do It

Almost every day I am reminded of one of the most important things I learned about Alzheimer's caregiving -- Just let Dotty do it.

By Bob DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room

I believe this is important.

Just let them do it. I am referring here to a person who is deeply forgetful.

Lets reverse this -- Don't do everything for them. You might ask why?

First, don't do everything for them. If you do everything for a person who is deeply forgetful they will forget how to do it. Once they forget it is unlikely that they will be able to relearn how to do it.

Second, just let them do it. I learned first hand that a person who is deeply forgetful is capable of more, much more, than you might be imaging. There is more there than you can imagine. I relearn this constantly, and I have been at it for more than 8 years with Dotty.

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You have to trust yourself, and trust the person who is deeply forgetful.

Let's face it, your brain is going to try and trick you every time. Your brain will tell you, they can't do it. Anyone on this blog ever commented, "this won't work for me". And then commented later on, "it works".

How about Harvey the parrot?

Of course it is easy to trick yourself. They have a saying that goes around in the Alzheimer's community, it goes something like this.

If you have met one Alzheimer's patient, you have met one Alzheimer's patient.

This is supposed to mean -- every Alzheimer's patient is different. It also is used as a subliminal message to make it easy for you to "think and believe" just because something works for someone else, it won't work for you.

What the message really implies is, don't even bother trying, they can't do it.

Did you ever read something on this website and think that won't work for me? Well, if you didn't try it, I betcha a thousand dollars it didn't work.

Did you ever think, this won't work for us, but you decided to give it a try and it did work? Don't be shy.
One of the things you have to learn to become an effective caregiver is that there is More There.

This so called more there is elusive because from the time a person is diagnosed as being "deeply forgetful",  your brain starts tricking you into thinking pretty soon "they" won't be able to anything.

See, it is your brain tricking you. Your brain.

Don't take the above too personal. I let my brain trick me for a while, just like most of us do.

In our case, Dotty girl started doing this and doing that and pretty soon I started to get the hang of it.

Here is one thing I learned. Dotty will constantly do something that I could never have imagined. Every time she does it I am surprised. Fortunately, these little surprises remind me over and over --there is more there.

Learning that there is more there is hard to do. I guess this explains why I have to relearn this over and over.

Hey, none of this is perfect. Sometimes you try something and it doesn't work. Then you think about it for a while. Pretty soon you get a new and better idea. Finally, something does work. Feels good doesn't it?

By the way, nobody bats a 1,000. Not even me, ;>)

Trust me, your brain is going to try and defeat you. Don't let it.

Just let them do it.

Okay, I gotta go, I have to go meet a brand new orange. It is really fascinating to me how every orange is different from every other orange.

Positive thinking.

_________________________________________________

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Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room (ARR). Bob is a recognized Influencer, speaker, and expert in the Alzheimer's and Dementia Community Worldwide. The Alzheimer's Reading Knowledge Base contains more than 4,000 articles, and the ARR has more than 343,000 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

Learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia in the Alzheimer's Reading Room.

Dotty Comes Out of the Deep, Did She Drive Me Crazy?

Dotty is kinder and gentler now. And, so am I. Or is it, I am kinder and gentler and more understanding now; and, so is Dotty?

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Dotty

I knew the minute I heard her voice when she woke up in the morning. It was going to be a wild and whacky day.

Dotty woke up with a clear strong voice on Saturday morning. It reminded me of 20 years ago. She was smiling and talking and making comments.

As soon as she got to Harvey she was yakking away with him.

I had to laugh, and smile. I also thought, this is going to be a crazy day.

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It didn't take long. I went into the bathroom and when I came out I heard noises emanating from the kitchen. We have two entrances to our kitchen, so I went in behind Dotty where she couldn't see me. Much to my surprise she was cooking. I can't remember how long it has been since Dotty tried to cook something.

I noticed she had a small frying pan on the stove. This in spite of the fact that there was a bigger frying pan sitting on top of the stove.

After a few minutes she took out a spatula, like you use to flip an egg, and moved her "home fry" potatoes from the pan onto a tiny little plate. Why did she use a tiny little plate? The bigger plates are right next to the tiny plates.

Dotty had managed to cook home fries.

As Dotty took off for the kitchen table, I slid down to the other entrance. Holly mole- E, she carried the plate all the way to the table on her own, sat down and started eating.

I moved in to examine the mess. So far, I had not said a single word.

There was still a lot of oil in the frying pan. It appeared that she poured about 10 times the amount of oil you need to cook home fries into the frying pain. We had little drips of oil here and there.

Next I noticed she had stabbed the back of home fries right in the middle to get at the home fries for cooking. Put me in the WayBac machine right then and there. In the old days, when Dotty on a scavenger hunt for potato chips she would stab the chip bag right in the middle with a sharp knife to get at the chips. That use to "piss" me off. Not today.

I'm so surprised that Dotty went into the lower cabinet to find a frying pan, into the upper cabinet to find a dish, found the olive oil, went into the refrigerator on a scavenger hunt to find the home fries, stab the bag of home fries and threw a couple on handful so potatoes into the frying pan, turn the stove burner on, turned the stove burner off, moved the home fries from the pan to the dish, and picked up the dish and walked to the kitchen table on her own, that I couldn't do much but smile, and think, this is gonna be a rough day.

I finally ask Dotty, did you cook those potatoes enough? She answers, yes. They look about half way there to me, I think. I ask, how do they taste? Dotty responds, delicious. Good enough for me.

I then ask, why didn't you ask me to cook them? Dotty responds, what am I a baby? This brings a good hearty laugh out of me. I then say, well that is the first time you cooked in a long time. Dotty then informs me she cooks all the time. Alright - y.

You'll notice I didn't say a word while Dotty was cooking. I just watched to make sure we would still have a place to live when she was done.

In the old days, I would have jumped in, told Dotty she was not doing it right, and then watched my little penguin scurry off into her bedroom. Leaving me with a stomach ache and feeling confused. Confused about what the "hell" was wrong with me.

During the day, Dotty was on the hunt, the scavenger hunt for food. She moved herself around quite a bit. She was pretty communicative for most of the day.

During the day I thought to myself, the old days were a lot harder then they are right now. Now, I have to assist Dotty everytime she gets up and every time I have to take her to the toilet. She can't walk on her own unless she can hold on to something as she goes from wall to chair to wall. If she can't grab on to something she calls out, YouWHO anybody home? When I get there I ask, what happened? She tells me, I can't move. I ask why not? She says, my feet won't go. I ask, how did you get this far? She answers, I don't know. I assist her.

Helping Dotty now is a lot of work. All day long work. But no where near as taxing as when she was mean and nasty.

Dotty is kinder and gentler now. And, so am I.

Or is it, I am kinder and gentler and more understanding now; and, so is Dotty?

I leave it for you to decide.

So for a small period of time Dotty came out of the "deep forget". I forgot what it use to be like in the old days, and then I remembered.

I wish Dotty could still cook.

More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

• How Alzheimer's Spreads Throughout the Brain
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• What is Dementia?
• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
• Driving with Alzheimer's Can Mean Death
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 3,710 articles with more than 397,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Harvey Reincarnated, He's Back

I guess you could say, where there's a will there's a way.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Harvey Reincarnated

For those of you that are new, Harvey is a repeat parrot. I consider Harvey to be a key tool, and an important tool, in my efforts as an Alzheimer's caregiver.

Go ahead and laugh. Most people do.

Meanwhile, Harvey often entertains Dotty and keeps her occupied. Importantly, Dotty talks to Harvey and often tells him things she doesn't tell me. For example, Dotty might say "Harvey, I have a headache".

Listening to Dotty talk to Harvey is really uplifting. It makes Dotty happy and this makes me happy. Happy caregiver.

Harvey helps keep Dotty socialized. Importantly, when Dotty is engaged with Harvey, I can do something I want to do.


How did I resurrect Harvey from the dead. Well thanks to one of our readers, I finally obtained a repeat parrot that takes a nine volt battery from Carol's gifts.

However, this new parrot doesn't take two AA batteries. So his mouth doesn't move, and his wings don't flap. What he does do is pick up sound from a distance and he works a bit better than Petey (known here as new Harvey).

Chintzy, Harvey, Petey

This new parrot is kinda chintzy and I knew it as soon as the box came. It was not big or heavy enough. Chintzy aside, he does have a good sound system. Not as strong a voice as Harvey, but a good voice. And, he actually has a slightly longer delay before he repeats. This is taking some getting use too. He also seems to do a good job on longer strings of words. We shall see. We just got him an hour ago.

It was immediately clear that this new parrot would be unable to step into the vacuum left by Harvey. Too small for one thing. Plus, the colors are not so great. Dotty actually recoiled and got scared when I took him out of the box.

So, I decided to give Harvey a major operation. I took him apart, cut all the wires and finally ripped him off his perch. Next, I had to take the base of the new parrot and cut it until I finally reached the point where I could attach Harvey to the new base, the one with the new sound system.

So now Harvey is back. I wouldn't say new and improved, but more than good enough and still better than Petey.

Don't worry all you Petey owners, I have also improved Petey and I will make a video about that soon. Also, a new Dotty - Harvey video.

What a day.

Here is Dotty and Harvey for those of you that are new, or never tire of hearing from Dotty.





Read More on the Alzheimer's Reading Room

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• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in Alzheimers World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 3,361 articles with more than 397,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room.

Dotty at the Pool March 18

There is no doubt in my mind that the large doses of sunlight that Dotty has been getting the last two weeks are making a difference in her awareness and interaction.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

I also noticed that Dotty is starting to engage with new Harvey in a way that I have not seen in months. The conversations are longer and more detailed. This morning I was singing very loud and new Harvey was singing along with me. Dotty was looking right at the parrot as if she was mesmerized. When I stopped the parrot stopped. Dotty looked at new Harvey and said, "you have a good voice".

I wish I had taken a video of Dotty looking at the parrot, she really was engaged. Engaged in a way that was very noticeable to me. Very different than what I have been seeing of late.





Related content.

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• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The ARR knowledge base contains more than 3,811 articles with more than 306,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Wheelchair Ride, Star Spangled Banner

I don't know why, but I continually need to be reminded that there is always, More There. The good news is that Dotty won't let me forget.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Someone once asked me what I was going to do when Dotty reached an advanced stage of Alzheimer's and couldn't walk or do much anymore.

I surprised myself when I answered without hesitation, I don't know for sure, I'll figure it out when we get there, one thing for sure,

we will continue to live our lives.

That was my answer.

We are certainly at or near that point now, and we continue to adjust. The we in this equation? Dotty and me.

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A few weeks ago I decided to put Dotty in the wheelchair and start walking her around the area. There were really two things on my mind: get Dotty out of the house and into the world; and, continue to get Dotty into bright light.

I guess you could sayit is our intention to "carry on".

The wheelchair rides seem to be working better than I expected. On our little walks, I ask Dotty to read the street signs. We have streets, avenues, ways, and terraces on our walk. Interestingly, Dotty can still read the street signs, but she only reads the first part. For example, she will say Silk Oak, for Silk Oak Terrace. Good enough for me. Dotty also mentions how big the trees are, or mentions the flowers. Sometimes she tells me what a great job they are doing of keeping the "place" looking nice. When we first start out, Dotty doesn't usually say anything. But after a while, I ask about the street signs and this seems to open up her "awareness".

I'm convinced the wheelchair rides help. They help keep Dotty attached to the world. There is no doubt in my mind that the bright light continues to have a "real" positive effect on Dotty's mood and behavior.

When I first started to talk about the positives of bright light most people looked at me in a funny way. I still remember a television interview where I brought this up. I was on with a neurologist, a good neurologist, and the reporter asked the neurologist a follow up question about the effect of bright light after I mentioned it. He said, that was the first time he had heard it. We are finally get more research and understand of the positive effects of bright light on the deeply forgetful.

Soon I intend to extend our wheelchair ride to other places. Dog run? Go look at alligators and birds? Find out if any of these "turn Dotty on".

Yesterday, I was on the computer. I thought Dotty was asleep on the sofa. A woman started singing the national anthem on the television, the Star Spangled Banner. Dotty started singing. Not some of the words like she does now, all of the words. When the singer paused for effect, Dotty just kept on singing ahead of her. Every word, the correct words.

I actually got up from my chair, and walked over and watched Dotty singing. She seemed happy and quite proud of herself.

I was a bit startled, although, I was feeling quite happy. The kinda happy that makes your heart soar.

I don't know why, but I continually need to be reminded that there is always,

More There.

The good news is that Dotty won't let me forget.



Read More on the Alzheimer's Reading Room

• How Alzheimer's Spreads Throughout the Brain
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• What is Dementia?
• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in Alzheimers World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 3,361 articles with more than 397,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room.

Dotty Eats A Whole Cantaloupe, Sits in the Pool for an Hour

The man asked, can you draw, I answered no, and then asked, why? He said she (Dotty) would make for a great comic strip character.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Dotty's Cantaloupe

Dotty woke up around 10:30 today. We went through our usual routine. Take AM medication. Get the day and date from the newspaper, discuss current events in the newspaper. Dotty seemed very alert and I'll get to that shortly.

Next Dotty had oatmeal and held a discussion with new Harvey. All was well.

I had to get on the telephone to discuss a plan of action with a doctor friend of mine. A plan to get a friend of ours a memory test. I was on the phone for quite some time discussing a range of issues.

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When I hung up the phone I thought I better check on Dotty. At first, I could not figure out what I was looking at. I actually said to Dotty, why did you stuff that trash into the cantaloupe? She answered, its gone. I said no it isn't, its new. I then pulled the napkins, etc out of the cantaloupe and to my surprise there was a big hole where there use to be a brand new, whole cantaloupe. The picture up top shows what was left of the cantaloupe. In other words, Dotty somehow got her hands on the cantaloupe, I had cut off the end, and managed to eat most of it using a spoon.

As you can see she didn't eat the seeds. By they way, I only cut off a small piece of the end of the cantaloupe, Dotty ate the inside of a very large cantaloupe.

After a good chuckle, I started berating new Harvey for not keeping an eye on Dotty. New Harvey really fell down on the job if you ask me.

Dotty of course was quite pleased with herself. She did not say, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing".

Yesterday I took Dotty to the pool for some sun and walking. Things started out with Dotty informing me she would not be going in the water. She told me this all the way there, and even when she was standing right in front of the first step into the pool.

She did go in after huffing and puffing a bit. Much to the amazement of the folks sitting around the pool.

We were in for about 30 minutes when I said, time to get out. What do you think Dotty said?

She said, I am not getting out. I asked, why not? She informed me she didn't want to get out. So, I got out.

After a while, Dotty managed to shimmy over to the steps and sit down on the step in the pool. At this point she started to entertain anyone within earshot. Mom you have to get out, you are going to get sunburned. No I won't she said. What makes you think that? You know I have that skin that doesn't get burned. Really? Yeah, you know I am half and half. I'll leave it to you to figure that one out.

Every once in a while, I said, mom time to get out of the pool. Each time she had some smart aleck retort. Frankly, I was enjoying this and so were the people sitting around the pool. I mean Dotty with her "mouth" was actually like the Dotty of old. Kinda, sorta.

Finally after an hour, she decided she would get out. Well, actually she was in the pool 90 minutes, 30 with me, and 60 on her own.

I have to tell you, sunlight is like magic as far as I am concerned.

It certainly makes a difference in Dotty's level of awareness, demeanor, and mood. It certainly makes her communicative. And, it makes her laugh more.

As Dotty was getting out of the pool, I said to one couple sitting nearby, I have my own real life cartoon character here. The man asked, can you draw, I answered no, and then asked, why?

He said she would make for a great comic strip character.

Of this I have no doubt.

I am taking my camera with me next time we go to the pool.

Read More on the Alzheimer's Reading Room

• How Alzheimer's Spreads Throughout the Brain
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• What is Dementia?
• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in Alzheimers World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 3,361 articles with more than 397,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room. For more information on Alzheimer's and dementia go here. If you would like a free email subscription click here.

Dotty Walks on Water

Dotty can't walk because her brain can no longer tell her legs what to do.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Yesterday, I decided to take Dotty to the pool, and to get her into the water.

One of motivations here is to determine if I can somehow get Dotty walking. Well, walking a bit. Like walking on her own in the house.

Right now, Dotty can't walk more than a few steps without assistance. And, she can no longer get around in our house on her own.

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Let me take a short cut here.

Dotty can't walk because her brain can no longer tell her legs what to do. Her legs are not yet weak, and she isn't falling.

I have been discussing this phenomena for years with people in the Alzheimer's community. Dotty's walking problem is not related to weakness in her legs, hips, or knees. It is not related to balance, although, Dotty does say all the time, she is going to faint. For a while now she has been saying, I can't move, and her feet are stuck to the ground.

I have been waiting patiently for a day when it was warm enough to put Dotty into the pool, and a day where I could get her on the move before it was too late.

So, yesterday we took off for the pool around 11:30 AM. I admit, I had some feelings of trepidation because I was not sure if Dotty would be able to get into the pool.

Oh that Dotty, never one to disappointed. I rolled her up to the pool and she made it in.

It is not so easy for one simple reason. The pool has this giant edge around it. So, you actually have to step up, then over, and then down to the first step in the pool. Then down a few steps.

Dotty girl makes it over that first giant hump without too much of a problem. Going down the steps was a bigger problem. First, Dotty's brain is not helping her much to pick up her feet. Second, to Dotty it looks like it is a million miles down to the next step. She has no real depth perception when it comes to looking into the water. So she steps down with the greatest of trepidation.

Of course, I am assisting, not coaching her all the way in. You just lather on a lot of positive reinforcement like, "you can do it", "don't worry I have a good grip on your", "don't worry even if you fall all you are going to do is fall in the water and I won't let you drown".

I don't actually say that last one, I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Once we made it into the water, Dotty was able to walk. After a few trips across the pool, I let her go on her own. She help the rope and walked across.

So Dotty can still walk a bit. We will keep this up if we can, and maybe, maybe, we will give the treadmill a shot somewhere down the road.

By the way, just so you understand, it is not about me wanting or needing Dotty to walk. It is about finding out if I can improve Dotty's ability a bit so she can go snip out her own mound bar without me having to bring it to her. Stuff like that.

No, Dotty didn't walk on water. But, she did walk in the water. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Made me feel pretty good that is for sure.

More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

• How Alzheimer's Spreads Throughout the Brain
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• What is Dementia?
• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
• Driving with Alzheimer's Can Mean Death
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 4,600 articles with more than 349,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room. For more information on Alzheimer's and dementia go here. If you would like a free email subscription click here.

Dotty Talks About Her Mother and Sings Shine on Harvest Moon

Dotty talks about her mother, sings Shine on Harvest Moon, and then talks with Harvey.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

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More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

• How Alzheimer's Spreads Throughout the Brain
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• What is Dementia?
• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
• Driving with Alzheimer's Can Mean Death
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room. For more information on Alzheimer's and dementia go here. If you would like a free email subscription click here.

R.I.P. Harvey

Sadly, last Thursday my pal and Alzheimer's caregiver sidekick, Harvey passed away.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Harvey

As many of you know, Harvey was Dotty's best friend.

We tried everything we could think of, but after repeated attempts to revive him, Harvey passed on, we hope, to toy parrot heaven.

Hopefully, he is now "yakking" away and eating an unlimited supply of nice fresh mangoes.

Harvey will be greatly missed by both Dotty and me.

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The morning after Harvey passed Dotty woke up asked me, is Harvey dead? I told her he was.

When she moved to the kitchen table she asked, who is this? I said that's Petey. Dotty then said, Petey you'll never be a Harvey. I loved Harvey. Folks, I did not make this up, it happened.

Petey took it all in stride knowing that he had one big mouth to fill.

Dotty and I decided in an effort to avoid confusion to go down to the Palm Beach County courthouse and have Petey's name legally changed to New Harvey.

So Petey is now Harvey (new Harvey). This made it much easier for Dotty to make the change.

New Harvey is a very kind, sweet, gentle repeat parrot.

In order to help new Harvey work more effectively I had to sit new Harvey on an angle so the hole in the bottom of his base is more or less facing Dotty. Oddly, the sound of voices goes into the hole on the bottom of the base, and new Harvey doesn't work very well if the hole is not better exposed to voice.

New Harvey promised that he will try and fill the void left by the now deceased Harvey.

On another note. I am now in touch with a company in China that has a 6 battery version of a repeat parrot. The only barrier right now is me finding someone with a FedEX account. The company will gladly send me a test parrot if I am willing to pay the shipping via Federal Express. I am still working on this as we don't have a FedEX account at this time.

One can only hope that the six battery version is a good as old Harvey.

I am still working the world to find out if there is a nine volt battery version of Harvey being made. We will leave no country un-turned.

I have written many times in the last year of the the important role that Harvey the repeat parrot played in our lives. He is greatly missed by both Dotty and me.

I know you are wondering so let me tell you, Dotty has adjusted very quickly to new Harvey. Although, new Harvey can't sing or catch my voice from afar the way that Harvey did.

For those of you that did not know Harvey well, here he is with Dotty.

• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room.