Kate does not talk in depth about her AD. She mentions it mostly indirectly and fleetingly. That is, she says something like, “”I just don’t know; I can’t remember anything.” Then she moves on. I have learned (mostly, anyway) not to push her to say more. She seems to want to be comfortable to recognize her AD but not to dwell on it in a discussion. She does make reference to the stress of life. She also seems down at times. I also note that there are related things that have nothing to do with memory. For example, over the past few years, she has been reading the newspaper less and less. Nowadays, she reads only infrequently. I think she is frustrated by not understanding what she is reading, but again, I don’t press her. I do sometimes joke with her about not being able to probe for more information about anything she brings up.
Another thing that has become next to impossible is operation of the DVD player or doing a number of things on the computer. I think one of the reasons she likes having me around is to be there to help her address the never-ending resolution of problems.
Yesterday she called me to say that she had forgotten another hair appointment. Neither one of us had written it down. Later she said that the message she received from her hairdresser indicated that she had forgotten to make a reminder call, something that is not routine but something she has started doing for Kate.
