Last night was pizza night for us. When I told Kate I was going to take her out for pizza, she beamed. That was no surprise. She and I always enjoy pizza. Less than an hour later, we were sitting at the restaurant where our server had just delivered it to our table. I served Kate and then myself and said, “You and I love pizza, don’t we?” She gave me a puzzled look and said, “What is pizza?” I said, “That’s what we are eating right now.” She said, “It’s good.” It was just like her first time to have it.
Kate’s vocabulary has been declining for several years, but I am still surprised when she forgets some of the most common words like pizza and black olives. Like everything else, forgetting in this instance doesn’t mean she won’t remember “pizza” the next day, but it is one other sign of the progression of her illness.
She has a related speech problem that has also been getting worse. She wants to say something but can’t recall the word she wants to say. Sometimes she seems to remember the word, but she mispronounces it. The only example that comes to mind at the moment is “shoes.” When she is getting dressed, she asks, “Where are my shows?” She usually recognizes her mispronunciation and tries again. When she still misses, she says, “You know what I mean,” and I usually do. Sometimes I don’t.
These speech problems are collectively referred to as “aphasia” which is common among all forms of dementia. Kate’s good friend, Ellen, has aphasia that is the result of a stroke and several subsequent seizures. Her problem is similar to Kate’s mispronouncing words. The major difference is the severity of the problem and that the words that come out of her mouth are “gibberish” while Kate’s are an approximation of the word she is trying to say.
I haven’t said anything about aphasia before. I only mention it because Kate’s problem is more noticeable now. Her failure to remember “pizza” led me to Google aphasia and dementia. According to the website of the National Aphasia Association it commonly begins as a subtle disorder of language, progressing to a nearly total inability to speak, in its most severe stage. The type or pattern of the language deficit may differ from patient to patient.
As I browsed through the results of my Google search, I ran across the website for verywellhealth.com. It describes the 4 A’s of Alzheimer’s. I read it in an effort to get a better grasp of where I might place Kate on the 7-stage model for the progression of Alzheimer’s. That confirmed my prior belief that she is in Stage 6 and, perhaps, in the latter part of that stage though still not approaching Stage 7. I should add that there are no clear guidelines about the length of the various stages. They can vary widely from one person to another.
The remaining three of the 4 A’s of Alzheimer’s are amnesia, apraxia, and agnosia. Amnesia requires no explanation. That is the loss of memory we most commonly associate with the disease. Kate has clearly experienced that problem, and it is very severe at this point. The other two terms are generally less familiar to those who haven’t dealt with dementia.
Quoting from verywellhealth.com “Apraxia is a deficit in voluntary motor skills.” Kate experiences many of the symptoms. Her biggest problem is walking. She recognizes that and is careful when she walks but occasionally stumbles over things. She also has trouble sitting down and getting up. She is very slow in getting into chairs or booths when we eat out. There are a variety of other signs. For example, she has difficulty holding on to her pills when I hand them to her. That is mostly because she tends to hold her hand sideways, and the pill falls out. It is also a problem eating, especially something like ice cream. The way she holds her fork or spoon is often tilted so that whatever she is trying to eat falls or drips on her lap or clothes. Something else that I am just recognizing is that she doesn’t do a good job washing her hands.
Quoting again from verywellhealth.com, “Agnosia is the impairment of the ability to receive or correctly understand information from the senses of hearing, smell, taste, touch, and vision.” I would say that agnosia is the least of Kate’s current problems. The few signs I see are in her lack of critical ability in differentiating the things she senses. For example, she has a tendency to think all of the musicians she hears are superb. The same is true for the actors and overall performances of the various theatrical events we attend. Even in her perception of the beauty of nature, she sees almost everything as beautiful. We have some plants that are looking rather “bedraggled.” They still look beautiful to her.
Here are the symptoms of Stage 6 of Alzheimer’s from the website of Alzheimer’s.net.
- Confusion or unawareness of environment and surroundings
- Inability to recognize faces except for the closest friends and relatives
- Inability to remember most details of personal history
- Loss of bladder and bowel control
- Major personality changes and potential behavior problems
- The need for assistance with activities of daily living such as toileting and bathing
- Wandering
Of the seven symptoms, only two are not applicable to Kate, major personality changes and wandering. Bladder and bowel control are not too serious at this point.
So I continue to believe Kate is in Stage 6. I would like to postpone Stage 7 as long as possible, but that is not under my control.
