Alzheimer Always Tired

My mother's lack of sleep is a total mystery to me.
She cannot understand why she is awake late at night and too early in the morning. She says she lays there thinking but cannot remember about what. I think she is too hot & stuffy because she refuses to leave her windows open- ever- because, you guessed it, it's going to rain...NOT !
There are alot of articles about lack of sleep and this disease but the only thing I see people doing about it is sleeping pills.
I have errands to run today and I called her to ask her to join me and to write it on the calendar. Of course when it's time to go two hours later she is still in her pajamas. At least I am learning now to not expect her to be ready, but to re-call her so she will stop watching tv and get going.
I know bringing mom with me will be like dragging a wet log around, but she was enthusiastic about getting out.
Thank goodness for antidepressants.

Elderly Paranoia

My father's paranoia has gone on for years.
His apartment that we emptied was full of medicine bottles, and anything else with his name on it, even envelopes with the little lines at the bottom that he swore had his information encoded in it. He refuses to use his room phone because 'people are listening'. And now his cell phone. He said it rang while he was in the dining room at the home and that it was a resident at another table who was mad at him for- (some nonsense involving food) - I told him no one has the number, but he thinks people can listen in on the cell phone also now, and thats why he gets sales calls on it.
Every time I visit he has me remove all the envelopes and magazine labels he cuts off so that I can shred them... which I bring home and throw away. 
I am so tired of these parents of mine.

Drunk Again

Once a week I take my father to a diner and every time, he gets wasted on wine. I tell him just to have one glass because I don't want him to fall and each time we go he either gets another one while I am in the restroom or orders another one and sheepishly apologizes to me at the same time. This results in an extremely embarrassing situation for me when we leave the diner and he is clinging to me. I used to be able to drop him off at the home and now I have to walk all the way to his room with this CRABBY man grabbing my arm telling me I am going too fast/ too slow, practically falling over. Shouting at other residents, and being more of an a-hole than usual. 

My sister decided to bring him to the diner once a week also when she found out he could provide her with money after I took over my mother's finances and cut her off. I feel badly for her in that she works full time- but if she wants the money she has to pay the price. 

Changing Myself

Today I am taking my mother with me to do a craft project for charity here. In the past I would do it for her to get her out but it never worked out that way. I would not be able to enjoy myself because I would have to do her project (like color easter eggs) as well as mine. It just ended up being a very stressful time for both of us. So today, I am going to do the crafts and just bringing her along. I am telling her she is going to be my 'helper'... This way she wont be so stressed out from lack of understanding and hopefully I wont be so stressed out helping her do something she doesn't want to do in the first place.

Alzheimer Progression Signs

One of my first indications that her disease was progressing was that this person who believed in all natural cooking from scratch was buying frozen dinners. She was cooking them in a toaster oven and I would find burnt pots soaking in the sink.
 Then there was all the 'repeat' buying. Tons of uneaten chocolates, cabinets full of untouched foods she couldn't remember how to cook (like rice), shampoo,cream rinse, moisturizers overflowing.
And dangerous food handling- like defrosting frozen vegetables in a rotten mess , Defrosting natural "Keep frozen" foods- I would find rotten and grey preservative free hotdogs in the refrigerator. Of course she would NOT believe there was anything wrong with the food.
She forgot how to color her hair after 40 years and decided it looked fine grey.
She used to balance my older sister's checkbook as well as her own,but suddenly couldn't.
It was also then that she lost a lot of weight.
Everyone said that people lose weight when they get old and would not listen to me when I brought it up.
One day, I took her to the grocery store and she took off without me, as though I wasn't even there.

Hoarding Cleaning

My mother was finally taken out of the apartment for a few hours
by a friend of hers- in trade for computer help & a shower.
I was able to get in and remove a garbage bag's worth of newspapers
and magazines. I was barely able to lift it! Believe me there was plenty
left so she would never notice. This problem filled an entire bedroom
at her other place before she moved here- she will not let me take them away.
So I have to lie and say I want to read them, or do things like this.
For some reason, she will not put things in the trash.
Every day I have to toss boxes & dinner trays, jello cups,cereal boxes, lids- everything-
nothing gets put in the can, they just pile up & up.

Re- Reading

My mother will read the same newspaper over and over-
It drives me crazy seeing this.
It doesn't bother her, she is enjoying reading the articles-
so today I decided that I will just let it slide from now on.
I just need someone to get her out of the apartment so I can get out the accumulating pile.
She was very confused yesterday which was first- "3/28/11" or " 9/28/11 "
so instead of trying to explain, I took down a calendar and had her flip the pages forward. After a couple times it registered (whew)

Weather Station Hell

My mother has had the tradition of following the weather since I was a teenager.
She would even draw out hurricane tracks on a map as they used give out the coordinates on local TV.
Every time it rained I would get the warning phone calls.

Well, my father has discovered the Weather Channel.
Now they both have it on.
 Aaah!!!
Mother has "RAIN" written on every day of her calendar.
Father is calling repeatedly to tell me there are storms coming.
Only one thing is for sure-

It's NOT RAINING!!!!!

Dia- What?

I made my morning phone call to mom.
She said she was
"Reading an old diarrhea"
I exclaimed "DIARRHEA?!!"
Omg, we had a great laugh LoL!

At the end of the conversation she said she was going to continue reading
her "Diary minus the Rhea"
haha

Alzheimer Card Game

I found mom was unable to play "Go Fish" with regular playing cards.
They look too much the same and way too many different cards.
I picked up 'Fundex' King size Fish cards the other day.
There are three ways you can identify a card.
The funny fish cartoon.
The fish's name on the bottom of the card.
The color of the fish's name.
I let her have multiple turns and with not repeatedly asking for the same card.
Cards have great multiple stimuli. Visual, dexterity, matching pictures together.
She loved shuffling them.
I highly recommend these.

Lunch With Dad

During my visit today my father,
 an avid science magazine reader,
 told me he can no longer really see
 or comprehend what he is reading.
That was tough to hear since we usually discuss
the magazine topics we share great interest in.
I take my father to a diner once a week.
This time I filled our date full of memories of my childhood.
He was amazed remembering the 1963-4 NY Worlds Fair,
 my first christmas, how he smelled coming home from working at the chemical plant.
*

He said he wished he could do something for me, then said
"You saved my life..."