Kate is moving quickly to a complete loss of names. At lunch and on the way home today, she quizzed me about my name, her parents’ names, and our children’s names. It isn’t as thought this is the first time, but she seems to be struggling even more now. I don’t mean that she expressed any outward frustration over her obvious memory loss. She didn’t. It was the whole nature of the conversation that made her efforts seem like a quiet struggle.
She began by asking my name. When I told her, she asked me to repeat it again. Then she tried without success. At one point, I said, “Could I ask your name?” She had to think a minute before answering, but she got it.
Then I asked if there were any other names she would like me to help her with, “like our children’s names.” She said, “We have children?” I told her we did and proceeded to tell her their names and where they live and about their spouses and children. Her eyes began to glaze over. I said, “I think I may be covering too much.” She nodded agreement.
When we got up to leave the restaurant, she said, “What is his name?” I didn’t know who she was talking about and asked her. She said, “The one you were talking to.” It had been about ten minutes since I had introduced her to someone I knew from UT and the symphony. She was frustrated and said, “You could help me if you just gave a straight answer instead of going off on these other things.” I backed off, and nothing more was said. This is not the first time I have asked her to explain something she has said. I don’t think she has ever explained. She just drops it. I think it is too hard for her to remember what she was trying to say.
On the way home, she told me that she wanted to take a nap when we got home. Sometimes she says this but forgets. Today she got in bed after brushing her teeth. She was in bed when the sitter arrived.
She continues to pick up things, mostly clothes, and take them in the car with us. Today she brought a wool turtle neck sweater and a pair of brown shoes. Getting out of the car a the restaurant, she asked about taking the sweater inside. I told her I didn’t think she would need it. She left it. When we got home, she asked if she should take the sweater inside. I told her that would be a good idea and suggested taking in her brown shoes as well. I brought in two decorative pillows from our bed that she had brought with her the other day.
This morning she had rummaged through one of the drawers in my bedside table. I didn’t see anything he had taken out, but I have recently found several things she has taken out of these drawers. My suspicion is thatn she is confusing my table with the one she has on her side of the bed. That reminds me that the other night she got in bed on my side without any awareness she had done so.
