Today seemed like a day of progress in recovery from our colds, at least for Kate . It is peculiar, but we both seem to have trouble early in the day but are better later in the afternoon and evening. It has been hard for me to determine how much of her listlessness is a result of her illness and how much might be a result of her Alzheimer’s. I suppose I will see in a few days. I think it has been a combination.
She is still asserting her independence but also showing her need for and acceptance of my help. Today, for example, I noticed that she had not taken her medicine. Instead of telling her that she had forgotten (which I usually do) I simply took the pills I knew she really needed and gave them to her. She never asked any questions, just took them. I might have thought she would ask where the others were, but she didn’t. She easily accepted my help. On the other hand, tonight when I gave her her medicine (she had forgotten to take it again), I told her to be careful because there were a lot of them. She said something to me that clearly indicated that she didn’t need me to tell her that. The reason I had done so was that earlier when I had given her the pills she had missed this morning, she dropped one of them in her bed and couldn’t find it.
I am sensing there is greater importance in my trying not to push her too much. After getting out of a movie at 2:30 today, I told her we needed to get to our haircuts. She expressed displeasure in that prospect. Normally she would be glad to get a haircut. It turned out she was tired and wanted to go home. We had been away from home since 10:00 this morning. As it turned out, I was wrong. When we got to the salon for our haircuts, we found out that they are really scheduled for next Tuesday. Thus she got to spend the balance of the afternoon (almost a full 3 hours) at home before we went to dinner. I have tried not to over schedule in the past, but this experience confirms just how important that is. She likes to have breaks at home and by herself (I think). I need to make sure she gets this time while also trying to minimize her boredom. It turned out that going to Panera, having lunch, and then seeing a movie was all she needed. It was time for a break, and she got it.
I continue to be surprised at some of her confusion. Yesterday, for example, she had gotten up from a little nap in her office. She came into the kitchen for something and was going back to our bedroom and asked, “”Do we have an iPad?” I think that she was momentarily forgetting that she has a new iPad to replace the one that was stolen last week.
