In recent weeks I have noted that Kate has been sleeping later that has been her custom for quite a while. In the past few days, however, she has been getting up at what I would consider an ideal time, around 9:00. That gives her what has usually been an adequate amount of sleep, 12-13 hours. It also gives me time to take care of a few things before she is awake.
Just when I thought she might be establishing a new pattern, she changed again. This morning, she was still in bed at 9:15. I checked on her a little later and discovered that she had gotten up from our bed and gone back to sleep in her room. Just before 11:00, I checked once again. She was back in our bed. At 11:25, she had gotten up and was making up the bed. Then she went to take a shower and dress. It was getting close to 1:00 when we got to Panera for lunch. I felt a little pushed because she had an appointment for a facial at 2:00. I tried not to rush her. I must have been successful because she didn’t express any irritation or have a panic attack. A couple of times she did say, “Just a minute” when I checked to see if she were ready.
As a caregiver, I am always trying to determine what, if anything, Kate’s current behavior signals for the future. In this case, I know that people with dementia require more sleep as the disease progresses. Sooner or later, I know that might happen with Kate. Am I seeing the first signs of this change? Is this judge a random shift from her regular sleep habits? Is there something else that I haven’t identified that might be causing the change? At the moment, I would answer “I don’t know” for each question. Because I am seeing so many other signs of change, I suspect this is part of a normal progression, and that will gradually sleep more than she used to. I will be looking closely to see if there is another explanation.
I had already been avoiding any commitments in the morning. Just last week, I changed the location of her next doctor’s appointment to a less convenient office so that she could see him in the afternoon. I will continue to be more rigid about this in the future. It will be easier for both of us.
