Posted on

Bouncing Back After Kate’s Stomach Issue

Ever since Monday afternoon (3 days ago), Kate has felt fine, and she has been in an especially good mood. Yesterday she received the sitter as though they were old friends. She was outside working when the sitter arrived. I was already dressed for the Y. Even though Kate has accepted the sitter each time, I still like to make a formal handoff; so I walked the sitter to the front yard where Kate was sitting down on the edge of the flower bed. I said, “Anita is here. I think I will leave it in your hands.” Kate responded, “I think we can handle it.” I left, once again feeling good that she continues to be so accepting.

One of the things I am learning is that four hours doesn’t allow as much time as I could sometimes use. To go from our house to the Y, exercise, shower and dress takes a full two hours. If I have a meeting, that will take at least an hour. That leaves only an hour to run other errands without counting the drive time home.

This is causing me to consider what kind of schedule I want to work out. There may be times when an extra hour would do the job. Because Kate doesn’t like to stay in one place for 4-5 hours, I might encourage the sitter to take her to a Panera or similar place where they could get something to drink. Kate could work on her iPad. On the other hand, at some point I know that I will want to add an additional day. I don’t feel I am quite ready to leave her four days a week even if it is only for four hours each time.

We are going to get our hair cut in another hour. That is an event that we have worked out well. We go to the same person. We go together. I always let her go first. While she is getting her hair done, I often run short errands. When she has her hair colored, that gives me a little more time.

Tonight we will go to Casa Bella for something new. We have been attending Opera Night the first Thursday of every month for several years. When they added Broadway Night on the third and fourth Thursdays, we started going to one of those. They are introducing Jazz Night on the second Thursday. I think tonight is the first night. Kate is not a jazz enthusiast, but the person for whom the trio is named is a retired professor of music at the university and someone we have known for about 40 years. As always, we will sit with a couple who are in their 90s. The wife is the daughter of the woman who opened the restaurant many years ago. We enjoy their company as well as the music. It should be another great evening.

     

Posted on

Symptoms/Seeking explanations

In my previous post I noted that Kate’s recent illness might have been caused by eating yogurt that was past its “sell by” date. This morning I noticed something that may be an even more reasonable explanation. Kate had opened the door to the refrigerator in the laundry room to get some yogurt. There were 2 unopened containers of yogurt on one of the shelves. She looked at one and started to pick it up. I suggested that we dispose of that. Then I picked up the other one and told her we should get rid of it as well. That set off a light bulb. It is not uncommon for her to open a container and start eating it before putting it down on the table next to her side of our bed or on a counter in one of the bathrooms. Sometimes she puts it back in the refrigerator’

These things make me wonder if she might not have left some yogurt out for an extended period of time, put it back in the refrigerator, and then ate it later, perhaps the next day. Maybe the yogurt could have spoiled during that time. I don’t suppose I will ever know the answer to this, but I intend to be more observant with respect to her yogurt from now on.

Posted on

Good days/Seeking explanations

This morning when I finished my post I wondered if the day would continue to be a good one. I am happy to report that it has. Kate has been in a good mood all day right up to and including a moment ago. That is when she called out to me asking where I was. I am in the family room listening to music, checking email, and reading Memory People posts on Facebook. I quickly went to the bedroom to check on her. I told her where I was and that I would be joining her shortly. She said, “That’s all right. I just wondered where you were. I was feeling a little lonely. I’m all right now.” All day she has been just that agreeable. It has been wonderful.

I also think I may have discovered the source of her problem over the past several days. I discovered one open yogurt container that was partially eaten with a label showing it was out of date, Today is October 10. It had a sell by date of September 29. I noticed that there was another unopened container with the same date. I threw both of the out. I am surprised that this would be the problem. On the other hand, her upset stomach was minimal. She never threw up. She only had one episode of actually spitting up. Her primary issue was an unsettled stomach. The only thing I could observe was her telling me that she was tired and that she seemed weak and uncomfortable. Since her vitals were all right yesterday, and she came out of it quickly, I suspect it was the yogurt. She may have eaten some of it two days in a row. I can’t be sure as I only found one open container

I feel bad about this as it is my responsibility to take care of the yogurt. I always buy yogurt with the date that gives me the longest time period in which she can eat it. What happened this time was that she went a week without eating as much yogurt as she normally does. I’m just glad that she is all right and that we have had a very good day.

Posted on

A Good Day Ahead?

This morning when I returned from my walk at 7:45, Kate was in the kitchen getting herself some juice and yogurt. She was in a pleasant mood and showed no obvious signs of whatever was affecting her over the past few days. I am optimistic that we may have gotten through this one. In some ways, I am sorry that we went to the doctor yesterday for what may have been a false alarm. That meant I had to cancel the sitter at the last minute, drop my own plans for the afternoon, and get the doctor’s office to squeeze us in. On the other hand, the visit gave me reassurance that there wasn’t something seriously wrong unless the lab test identified something. I felt better when we left the office. Of course, the best news has been Kate’s apparent recovery. Now we can move forward with other things.

Among those other things is a trip to Fort Worth a week from today. We are going back for our 55th college class reunion. I am really using that as an excuse to get us back to Kate’s home. I am looking at this as her last trip home. I have arranged for her to see family members and several close friends that go back as far as elementary school.

Last week I exchanged text messages with Kate’s cousin who lives in Dallas. I arranged for us to take her to lunch next Wednesday. Yesterday I got a phone call from one of Kate’s longtime friends from Fort Worth. I had spoken with her a couple of months ago about getting a small group of friends together for lunch while we are in town. She told me that she had made the arrangements and was confirming our plans.

We will also be with family. Our grandson, Brian, is a freshman this year. Our son and his wife will also be there from Lubbock. Kate’s brother and his wife who live in San Angelo be there as well. Another cousin who lives in Fort Worth has arranged for all the family to get together after church on Sunday. I am hoping this will be a special time for Kate although I realize that she will be unable to recognize that this is likely to be her last time home.

Posted on

Mood Changes

The answer is (Do you remember the question? ) “yes.” Kate remembered and came out from her room dressed for dinner. She continued to seem very normal. In fact, I would say her mood was better than normal. She was nothing like she was when I first saw her this morning. She had her top on inside out, something that is very common. I told her about it, and she thanked me. We made our way to Chalupas, our favorite Mexican restaurant, where we sat quietly, enjoyed our meal and just being together. I treasure moments like these and wish they could occur more often. I know that is not possible; so I take special pleasure in each of these experiences and feel grateful that they continue to occur.

On the way home from the restaurant, Kate mentioned that she felt sleepy but didn’t want to go to sleep too early. Once arriving at home, she commented again about being sleepy. I took this immediately as a sign that the symptoms of whatever illness she has had the past few days might be returning. Fortunately, no other symptoms materialized

I suggested that I turn on the “PBS Newshour” in the bedroom while she got ready for bed and worked on her iPad. She mentioned that she would like to stay awake until 8:30. I don’t ever recall her being concerned about going to bed too early. I don’t think I have suggested it. I’m wondering what might have prompted this. At any rate, she put on a night gown and came into the bedroom to work on her iPad in her chair, not in bed. A little later, she indicated she was ready for bed. I pointed out that it was 8:28. She had made it to her own appointed bedtime. We ended the day on a high note.

Posted on

Symptoms

It has now been an hour since I went outside to get Kate. About 20 minutes ago, she had gotten out of the shower and was walking into our bedroom in her robe. I had thought that she would be dressed for dinner. I went into the bedroom. She said, “I did what you told me.” I said, “What was that?” She said, “To come in here.” (As you may have guessed, I hadn’t given her any instructions about what she was to do. I only brought her in so that we could get a shower and go to dinner.) She then picked up her iPad and asked (by motions, not words) if she could get in bed and work on it. I said that would be fine and that I would check in a few minutes to see if she was ready to eat. I have now done that, and she went back to her room to dress. My expectation is that she will return dressed and ready to go out. Will I be right?

Posted on

Symptoms

Yesterday our daughter Jesse called to coordinate plans for a couple of trips to see her and her family. Kate had just taken a shower and was getting dressed. I put the phone on speaker and walked back to her room. I told her it was Jesse on the phone. She said, “”Hi, Jesse.” Then she waved me out so that she could finish dressing. When she was ready, she walked by me as I was talking. Then she went outside to pull leaves. Before her Alzheimer’s, she would never have done this. She would have eagerly gotten to the phone and enjoyed a conversation with her daughter

I called Kate’s doctor’s office shortly after 9:00 this morning. I left a message for the nurse. Her doctor was out of the office today. They said the nurse would get back to me. I then called the agency that provides the sitter who was to have been here at noon. I let them know that we might have to go to a doctor’s appointment and that we might not need a sitter. They understood.

After getting up a second time this morning, Kate got dressed to go out for her muffin. She was moving very slowly and acted the same way she had been a good bit of the past 3 days, but we went ahead to Panera. We stayed for about an hour. When we got home, she went back to bed. At noon, I asked if she felt like eating. She said no. This was the first time she had not wanted to eat at mealtime during her illness. Before I ran out to get a sandwich, I received a call from the doctor’s nurse saying we could see another doctor at 1:30. I told her we would be there

Kate got up when I told her we had an appointment, but she was moving very slowly, once again walking as though she was very unsure of herself. They took us in right away and took her vital signs. Everything looked fine. The doctor asked for me to give an account of what had been going on. I did. She said they wanted to draw blood and get a urine sample and that the results would be available tomorrow

When we left, Kate seemed much better. We stopped by Panera to get her a sandwich and stayed an hour. As we reached the house, she asked, “What can I do?” I told her that she could work in the yard. Then she asked me, “Where?” I told her she could start in the back if she wanted to. Then we both came inside a few minutes. Then she asked, “Now what?” Before I could answer, she asked, “”My room or the bedroom?” I assumed she had decided to work on her iPad inside.” I told her that I thought she had said she wanted to work outside. She said, “”I would like to.” She was outside for about an hour before I went out to see if she wanted to get ready for dinner. She said she was just about to come inside anyway. When she is ready, we will go to Chalupas for dinner.

Posted on

Still Not Feeling Well

About 11:30 yesterday morning, I checked to see if Kate wanted some lunch, she indicated that she did. She got up from bed pretty quickly but was moving very slowly and showed no improvement since getting up this morning. We went to our usual place which is about 20 minutes from home. She was very quiet on the way, during lunch, and returning home. As soon as she walked inside, she got into bed again. She stayed there for about an hour, perhaps a little longer. Then she came into the family room where I was seated and asked, “”What can I do?” Before I could answer, she said, “”I could go around front.” It was stated like a question. I told her I thought that might be good therapy. I really meant it as it was the first time since Friday that she had shown any interest in going outside.

She remained outside for about an hour. Then she came in to take a shower. She appeared normal. I said something to her about being glad to see her feeling fine again. She acted as though she had never been sick. When she had dressed, she was ready to get out of the house. We went to Panera for another hour before going to dinner. She was quiet, but she ate well. Upon our arrival home, she put on a night gown and got into bed with her iPad.

At 8:00, she said, “”Good night.” I said I would go in the other room, but she wanted me to stay with her. I did for the next hour or so. Then I went into the family room and reviewed Memory People posts on Facebook. When I went to bed, she woke up and sounded normal. I told her I felt better now. She didn’t understand. I told her that she had felt sick for a couple of days. She didn’t remember.

Now I feel relieved. I was really worried that we might be facing something more problematic. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well. A few minutes ago, she came into the kitchen to get some juice and yogurt. She gave me quite a scowl. This is not entirely unusual. She is this way in the morning periodically. I tried to speak to her, but she didn’t want to engage in conversation. She has gone back to the bedroom. I’ll give her time to get going in her own time. It is common for her to go back to sleep after getting up for her juice and yogurt.

Posted on

Symptoms/Markers

I have continued to monitor Kate’s behavior with an effort to determine how much is related to her Alzheimer’s and how much, if any, is related to her having a specific illness. This decision is clearly made more difficult by her Alzheimer’s. She is unable to explain how she feels except to say that she feels tired. After receiving an email from her doctor Friday afternoon and watching her yesterday, I began to think it is an infection of some type. The fact that she acted like she was going to throw up and did actual spit up some of her pizza Friday night reinforced this thinking.

Yesterday morning I was encouraged when she first got up. She got dressed reasonably early and was ready to go to Panera by 9:00. We were there about an hour before she wanted to go home. I did notice that she didn’t finish her muffin, the first time that has ever happened. At home, she went back to bed, and I let her rest over an hour before if she would like to go to lunch. She did. We went to Bluefish for lunch. She was quiet on the way out and the way back. She said nothing while there except a comment or two to the server. When we got home from lunch, she went right back to bed. Similarly, when we got home from dinner, she got ready for bed. She woke up at midnight and had difficulty going back to sleep. I suspect this is a result of having slept so much over the previous 24-36 hours.

She has seemed unsure of herself when walking. She walks very slowly, significantly slower than usual. I thought she might feel unsteady because she was happy to grab my hand and she would reach for something to steady herself. When we got home from dinner last night, she balanced herself by keeping her hand on the car until she was close to the door to the house. I asked if she felt unsteady. She said no that she was just tired.

Yesterday morning I asked her if she wanted to see a movie in the afternoon, Victoria and Abdul. She did. I bought tickets online before we went to lunch. As we returned home from lunch, I asked again if she felt up to it. She said she did. When it was time to leave, I asked again if she wanted to go. Once again she confirmed her interest, and we went. During the first part of the movie, she looked at me with a smile on her face that suggested she was enjoying the movie. She wasn’‘t smiling when it ended. I asked specifically if she had enjoyed it. She nodded that she hadn’t. I didn’t pursue any discussion, and she didn’t want to talk.

This experience reinforces what I had already been thinking. Movies are becoming a thing of the past for us. I think this particular movie had a good shot at being one she would like. I now have a string of failed attempts at movies going back at least to the spring. I am not saying I won’t try again, but I will be increasingly careful in selecting one.

When we came home from the movie, she went back to bed. About an hour later, I asked if she wanted something to eat. She did. We went to one of our regular places. She did a respectable job of eating her dinner. I didn’t observe any notable differences in how much she ate.

At dinner, she reached across the table twice to take a drink my iced tea. I noticed that she hadn’t drunk any of her Dr. Pepper. The second time I asked her if the Dr. Pepper was bad. She said, “”Oh, I forgot.” While I don’t remember her doing exactly this same thing before, for a long time she has not noticed things that are right in front of her.

She got up early to go to the bathroom. I asked how she was feeling. She indicated her stomach felt strange but that she was not feeling any pain. I gave her some Tums to see if that might help. She went back to sleep.

She was ready for Panera and her muffin at 9:00. She was still walking slowly and didn’t look sure of herself. I asked how she felt. She said, “”Hungry.” We went to Panera and stayed an hour before she asked if we could go home. For the second day in a row, she had not finished her muffin. I asked about that, and she said she said she was full. That made me think again about her stomach.

She has been resting since we got home. I will soon check to see if she wants any lunch.

Posted on

Symptoms/Unusual Behavior/Markers

After the “panic” attacks night before last, Kate slept until 11:05 a.m. when I woke her up. I knew that the sitter was coming at 1:00 and that Kate would need something to eat before she came. It was clear that when she was up that she had not recovered from the night before. She seemed weak. I had planned to take her to Panera for lunch but hesitated because she didn’t seem up to it. I suggested bringing something home for her. She didn’t want that. She wanted to get out of the house.

We drove over to Panera. On the way over, it seemed clear to me that she wasn’t feeling well enough to be out. I told her I was going to take her home. Then I would bring something home. She agreed. I returned home with some soup. I was beginning to think that she had an upset stomach and wanted something that would not be too rough on her stomach. Kate didn’t want the soup.

I arrived home just before the sitter. I hadn’t told Kate the sitter was coming. I just said, “Mary is here.” Kate received her warmly although she was noticeably tired and or weak. She wanted to get out of the house. I suggested that all three of us go to Panera and that Kate ride with Mary and I would drive separately so that I could leave if it seemed appropriate. I got Kate a muffin. The three of us sat at a table for about 15 minutes. Then I came back to the house. It wasn’t long before Kate and Mary came back as well.

Kate was tired and went back to the bedroom and got into bed. I left to run some errands and meet a friend for coffee. When I returned, Mary said that Kate was resting but that she had been outside twice.

After Mary left, Kate wanted to go back to Panera for a while. We stayed there about 45 minutes before she wanted to leave. I asked if she wanted to eat. She did. We normally go out for pizza on Friday night, but I was uneasy about her eating pizza if her stomach was upset. She said she was all right and would like the pizza. We got the pizza. She did fine as far as eating goes, but she continued to look weak and said she was tired.

After getting home, she got right into bed. This would have been before 7:00. She got up around 8:00 and asked, “What now?” I told her it was beginning to get closer to bedtime and that it would good to get her night clothes on. She said okay. I got her a gown. As she was undressing, she raced to the bathroom and spit up in the sink. It appeared that she was going to throw up, but not much came up. When she left the bathroom, she got into bed and is still there. She did get up to go to the bathroom around 6:00 this morning but went back to bed.

I heard from the doctor who said she might have an infection. Yesterday I got her some Tums Smoothies and gave her a couple after she had spit up. Since she had no other occurrences during the night, they may have helped
I intend to let her sleep as long as she wants this morning. When she wakes up I am hoping she feels better.

This whole set of events is something very different from most of the things I have observed over the course of her Alzheimer’s. Yesterday I was wondering if this could be a sudden shift downward in her condition. Right now I am guessing that she really did have something physical that has affected her stomach and that interacted with her mental state which doesn’t permit her to respond in a normal way. She is confused and just knows she doesn’t feel right.