Charlie started at Elder Mount last week. Mama stayed for the first half of his first day and then he was left with everyone else. There are 4 groups of people. They are put a specific group in depending on their mental ability. Charlie was put into group 3. The first day was, as expected, pretty difficult. He got confused a bit which is expected. One of the problems with him being in group 3 is that other people in that group are not as mobile as Charlie so they can't move around nearly as much as he can. Because of that they are sitting down a lot. They do exercises in chairs instead of standing up. After a while of sitting Charlie wanted to get up and wonder around. Well they don't want him to do that because they have an activity going on and don't have enough people to watch him and others who want to do the same thing.
The second day was better than the first. There are 9 field trips that Elder Mount takes every month. We are allowed to sign Charlie up for 3 of them. His second day he went on a field trip to the art museum. When Mama asked him what he saw he said that he saw a lot of colors which is a pretty good answer. They also have people there to gives manicures and hair cuts so Charlie got his hair cut the second day he was there. Things have been going well since then. He will continue to go 2 days a week.
The speech, physical, and occupational therapists are all still coming to the house 2 or 3 days a week. It seems to be going well with them. There is something new going on with Charlie. He will make the movement of using a fork or spoon while eating and bring it up to his mouth but there isn't a fork or spoon in his hand. We don't know what that is about. He also will be going to see the new neurologist this week.
Kels
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
July 5, 2010
The days have been getting harder and longer. Its one thing to find something to do for yourself, it is another thing to have to entertain someone who is very limited in what they do. There are so few things for Charlie to do because he needs someone to help him or he can't be left alone doing it. He can't walked down the street by himself, can't do yard work besides picking up sticks, and he can't play ball with the dog because he forgets what he is doing or has forgotten how. He is becoming less lucid and can't focus more and more. His name has to be said before saying anything to him or he won't pay attention. Even then its a 50/50 chance whether or not he is listening. Its getting to the point that instead of just repeating a direction over and over he has to be guided physically. However when I do that he ends up getting irritated with me or giving me a look, but that comes with the disease. He doesn't like being followed around or told what to do by anyone but Mama..
Charlie paces A LOT. He picks things up and puts them down or just touches them for no apparent reason. He walks from room to room aimlessly and will do the same thing outside. The other day he walked down the street again by himself. The neighbors saw him and brought him back. We can't get him to sit down for a long period of time without him getting up and wondering around again. I'm starting to wonder if the agitation is starting to take a part on how he sleeps. He has been waking up a lot earlier than he ever used to. Its like he feels the need to get up and do something just like when he paces.
Charlie is starting at Elder Mount tomorrow morning. He is there for the whole day, two days a week. Mama will be with him for part of the morning tomorrow but then she has to leave and let him be there with everyone else. I think we are all a bit nervous about it. It is like leaving a child on their first day of school but with Charlie he may be able to remember where he is or know where Mama is. He gets very upset when he doesn't know where she is and why she isn't around. Hopefully we can have to workers remind him of where he is and where she is so that he won't be upset or feel like he got left there to stay.
Keeps us in your thoughts. Its been very difficult lately.
All for now,
Kels
Charlie paces A LOT. He picks things up and puts them down or just touches them for no apparent reason. He walks from room to room aimlessly and will do the same thing outside. The other day he walked down the street again by himself. The neighbors saw him and brought him back. We can't get him to sit down for a long period of time without him getting up and wondering around again. I'm starting to wonder if the agitation is starting to take a part on how he sleeps. He has been waking up a lot earlier than he ever used to. Its like he feels the need to get up and do something just like when he paces.
Charlie is starting at Elder Mount tomorrow morning. He is there for the whole day, two days a week. Mama will be with him for part of the morning tomorrow but then she has to leave and let him be there with everyone else. I think we are all a bit nervous about it. It is like leaving a child on their first day of school but with Charlie he may be able to remember where he is or know where Mama is. He gets very upset when he doesn't know where she is and why she isn't around. Hopefully we can have to workers remind him of where he is and where she is so that he won't be upset or feel like he got left there to stay.
Keeps us in your thoughts. Its been very difficult lately.
All for now,
Kels
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
June 29, 2010
Well Saturday Charlie was able to complete a 4 mile walk which is fantastic! He walked in the Hyde Park Blast with Mama and it only took about an hour and twenty minutes. He didn't seem okay at the end of the race but after some gatorade, a banana, and sitting down a couple minutes he was just fine. It is a great accomplishment and something we were all skeptical about but he did great!
He is still getting physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy every week along with a nurse who comes out to the house to check on him. Also he will be starting at Elder Mount (adult day care) on the 6th so that should help him to be more active and get him doing things besides sitting on the couch and falling asleep all day.
Understanding directions is getting a bit harder. We went to a movie and when Mama was trying to get him into our row he kept going into a different row and sitting down in a seat there. They ended up sitting there because Charlie couldn't understand to get up and move back a row. Also when they went to a Reds game and were walking up the steps to their seats Charlie ended up sitting down on the steps and wouldn't get up to keep going up the stairs. They spoke to someone and found other seats to sit in. Everything now has to be repeated several times before it clicks in his head as to what to do but we're getting used to it.
Friends and family have been a great help and we are so thankful for that.
All for now,
Kels
He is still getting physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy every week along with a nurse who comes out to the house to check on him. Also he will be starting at Elder Mount (adult day care) on the 6th so that should help him to be more active and get him doing things besides sitting on the couch and falling asleep all day.
Understanding directions is getting a bit harder. We went to a movie and when Mama was trying to get him into our row he kept going into a different row and sitting down in a seat there. They ended up sitting there because Charlie couldn't understand to get up and move back a row. Also when they went to a Reds game and were walking up the steps to their seats Charlie ended up sitting down on the steps and wouldn't get up to keep going up the stairs. They spoke to someone and found other seats to sit in. Everything now has to be repeated several times before it clicks in his head as to what to do but we're getting used to it.
Friends and family have been a great help and we are so thankful for that.
All for now,
Kels
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
June 8, 2010
Hey all, Mama has been talking to some people about plans for next year for Charlie when she goes back to work. She spoke with a woman about this day care sorta place called Elder Mount. Its day care for adults pretty much. It would be a place for Charlie to go while she goes to work. They have a lot of activities for him and it would be so much better than sitting in front of the t.v. (not watching it) all day. They have field trips and everything. It sounds like a great place. Mama and Charlie will be checking it out on Friday to see what they think.
We also are looking at a different neurologist to see if he can explain anything about what it happening with Charlie. It seems as though it is more than just Alzheimer's that he is going through. There are symptoms that we haven't ever read about and when Mama talked to the director of the Alzheimer's Association she said she had never seen them before in Alzheimer's patients either. We don't think that anything can really be done about it but it would be nice to understand more about what it happening. He is no longer on any kind of Alzheimer's medication before frankly it wasn't doing a darn thing.
All for now,
Kels
We also are looking at a different neurologist to see if he can explain anything about what it happening with Charlie. It seems as though it is more than just Alzheimer's that he is going through. There are symptoms that we haven't ever read about and when Mama talked to the director of the Alzheimer's Association she said she had never seen them before in Alzheimer's patients either. We don't think that anything can really be done about it but it would be nice to understand more about what it happening. He is no longer on any kind of Alzheimer's medication before frankly it wasn't doing a darn thing.
All for now,
Kels
Saturday, June 5, 2010
June 5, 2010
Well the first big vacation since Florida was this past week. Mama and Charlie went to the Grand Canyon with another couple who are amazing at helping out with anything we need. Leaving town seems to be getting harder and harder to do. Charlie is very used to his schedule and when it gets thrown off its pretty bad. I can't say exactly what happened on vaca because I didn't go but when they came back last night Charlie was more disoriented than I had ever seen him. Now part of that could have been because they had to wait around at the airport hours longer than they should have. Either way, Charlie wasn't doing well last night. His eyes seemed kinda glazed over. He couldn't tell what was going on. Its hard to tell whether he knew he was home or not. Hopefully things will go back to normal now that they are home and back on schedule.
Along with that Charlie had started leaning slightly. He just kinda slants to the left while he is sitting and a little while standing. So he doesn't use his left hand for anything anymore and now he is leaning that way. It seems as though it would be from a stroke but nothing showed up on the MRI so we don't really know. His short term memory was definitely effected by the trip. He just woke up not to long ago and asked where Mama is. I told him at the grocery store and about three minutes later we had the same conversation. So it just seems like vacations are overload on his brain. Thats all for now.
Kels
Along with that Charlie had started leaning slightly. He just kinda slants to the left while he is sitting and a little while standing. So he doesn't use his left hand for anything anymore and now he is leaning that way. It seems as though it would be from a stroke but nothing showed up on the MRI so we don't really know. His short term memory was definitely effected by the trip. He just woke up not to long ago and asked where Mama is. I told him at the grocery store and about three minutes later we had the same conversation. So it just seems like vacations are overload on his brain. Thats all for now.
Kels
Sunday, May 23, 2010
May 23, 2010
While sitting in class learning about children, we started talking about something that related to Charlie and his early onset. The books I have read talk about long term and short term memory and how Alzheimer's takes over them. What they don't talk about is the 'working memory' which is remembering what you are doing at that very moment that you are doing it. For example when you walk into a room and forget why you went in there.
While talking in terms of children with learning disabilities, my teacher gave of an example of what this would look like when doing a math problem. When given the problem (4+5)x 2 the child will look at 4+5 and then figure out 4+5=9. Well by the time they get to the x2 part they forget all about the 9. Hearing this I instantly thought about Charlie. If mama asks him to take a basket to the basement he can remember that he has to go to the basement by he doesn't know why. Or vice versa he picks up the basket and doesn't know where to go. Before I thought that his short term memory is pretty bad and although it is getting that way, I think what is actually happening is that his working memory is fading fast.
On top of that, Charlie has a very difficult time focusing on anything. Mama will try to talk to him or get him to look at her and its such a big effort. Getting him to focus on anything is a big ordeal. It doesn't help that he is half deaf either. A lot of the time he will sit in front of the t.v. but he isn't actually watching it. I tried to pay attention to see if he was watching the musical we saw yesterday but it was hard to tell. I didn't really hear him laughing or show any sign that he was paying attention but then again he doesn't have much reaction to a lot of thing so I couldn't really tell.
Thats all I got for now.
Kels
While talking in terms of children with learning disabilities, my teacher gave of an example of what this would look like when doing a math problem. When given the problem (4+5)x 2 the child will look at 4+5 and then figure out 4+5=9. Well by the time they get to the x2 part they forget all about the 9. Hearing this I instantly thought about Charlie. If mama asks him to take a basket to the basement he can remember that he has to go to the basement by he doesn't know why. Or vice versa he picks up the basket and doesn't know where to go. Before I thought that his short term memory is pretty bad and although it is getting that way, I think what is actually happening is that his working memory is fading fast.
On top of that, Charlie has a very difficult time focusing on anything. Mama will try to talk to him or get him to look at her and its such a big effort. Getting him to focus on anything is a big ordeal. It doesn't help that he is half deaf either. A lot of the time he will sit in front of the t.v. but he isn't actually watching it. I tried to pay attention to see if he was watching the musical we saw yesterday but it was hard to tell. I didn't really hear him laughing or show any sign that he was paying attention but then again he doesn't have much reaction to a lot of thing so I couldn't really tell.
Thats all I got for now.
Kels
Thursday, May 13, 2010
May 5, 2010
Grandma got here today! We're all excited about it :)Mama went to her monthly Alzheimer's meeting tonight while me, sissy, and grandma stayed to hang out with Charlie. We had a slightly nerve racking moment, at least for me, tonight. Instead of walking around the yard Charlie walked down the street and back. Everything was okay of course but it makes me nervous all the same.
He was also very agitated today. He didn't want to sit and relax at all he just kept moving and pacing. Finally he decided to walk on the treadmill which seemed to help to get him to relax after about 10 minutes and a popsicle. We watched a funny show and then Air Force One, a classic, to help brighten Charlie's spirits which gets harder everyday. Grandma is good for doing that too, of course she helps make us all feel more relaxed. :) Well that's all for now. Goodnight.
Kels
He was also very agitated today. He didn't want to sit and relax at all he just kept moving and pacing. Finally he decided to walk on the treadmill which seemed to help to get him to relax after about 10 minutes and a popsicle. We watched a funny show and then Air Force One, a classic, to help brighten Charlie's spirits which gets harder everyday. Grandma is good for doing that too, of course she helps make us all feel more relaxed. :) Well that's all for now. Goodnight.
Kels
May 5, 2010 Introduction
Alzheimer's disease SUCKS. Period. End of discussion.
My step-dad, Charlie, was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's 5 years ago at the age of 60, not long after a heart attack and mini strokes. Early Onset is Alzheimer's that is diagnosed under the at of 65. It tends to progress quicker and can be genetic. Charlie has slowly been declining and things tend to get worse gradually rather than all at once. Well that's how it was until about 2 months ago. Charlie very suddenly couldn't swallow meaning he couldn't eat. Well this all came at the same time we took a vacation to Florida to visit family which vacation is usually difficult anyway. Things got worse and Charlie lost a lot of weight so when we got back home he had to get a feeding tube.
Since then things have gotten slowly better and back to 'normal' although Charlie can't be left alone now along with other new things. He is a lot more disoriented and short term memory is pretty much shot. My mom has taken most the rest of the school year off except for the last two weeks, the next two weeks, so my grandma has come up to stay with Charlie while my mom is back to work. We'll see how things go without mama around.
Kels
My step-dad, Charlie, was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's 5 years ago at the age of 60, not long after a heart attack and mini strokes. Early Onset is Alzheimer's that is diagnosed under the at of 65. It tends to progress quicker and can be genetic. Charlie has slowly been declining and things tend to get worse gradually rather than all at once. Well that's how it was until about 2 months ago. Charlie very suddenly couldn't swallow meaning he couldn't eat. Well this all came at the same time we took a vacation to Florida to visit family which vacation is usually difficult anyway. Things got worse and Charlie lost a lot of weight so when we got back home he had to get a feeding tube.
Since then things have gotten slowly better and back to 'normal' although Charlie can't be left alone now along with other new things. He is a lot more disoriented and short term memory is pretty much shot. My mom has taken most the rest of the school year off except for the last two weeks, the next two weeks, so my grandma has come up to stay with Charlie while my mom is back to work. We'll see how things go without mama around.
Kels
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