The number of things that are an issue now make me uneasy about travel plans. We have wanted to go to New Zealand and to the Baltic States and Russia. I have been looking at Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) for these trips , New Zealand in January or February 2014 and the another in the Fall 2014. I am beginning to think that another OAT trip may be too busy and require too much for me in terms of being ready to go for breakfast, for the bus, etc.
Kate’s functioning continues to deteriorate although I still think most people would never notice. Twice since coming back from our trip she has gotten lost. The first was on the way to church, a place to which she has driven since 1983. This past Friday she was later arriving home than I thought she should be. She had gone to Ellen’s to deliver some food for them. I decided she and Ellen were having a nice visit. When she came back, I asked about her being so late. She said she had gotten lost. She didn’t want to talk about it. This is a common pattern after she has done something frustrating. A little while after something has happened, I occasionally will ask, and she will tell me what happened though I don’t belabor things.
Short-term memory is increasingly a problem. For example, last night at the symphony concert I told her we would be going to a fund-raiser for the orchestra. At the end of the concert she spoke with someone who asked if we were coming, and she told them we were not. When I told her we were going, she didn’t remember my telling her the first time. This kind of thing happens all day long.
The “Fall” newsletter for the neighborhood association still isn’t out. On Friday she asked me to get her to finish it yesterday. I tried to get this done, but failed although she did work on it a little.
Similarly, she hasn’t finished her collage of pictures from our trip to South America although she was virtually finished weeks ago.
She continues to depend on me and actually hands off things to me. For example, the past two days she has handed me her can of V8 to open for her. Little things like this can be frustrating to her. She said that she didn’t want to break her nails.
All these things have made me more certain that our trip to New Zealand will be on our own.
