Please forgive the language, but Jesus H. Christ – the man (Doug) has more keys than Carter has little pills! (You have to be a certain age to get my references). My poor husband, you’ll remember, has early on set Alzheimer’s disease (he just turned 67 a few weeks ago). And we have rental property. Now, add those two together, plus cars keys and…. My poor sister (who lives with us) spends the best part of every day, trying to help Doug find his keys. It does not help that he will go have new keys made for an apartment, and by the time he gets home, does not remember the address – so we can’t tag the new keys. I have, I believe, about 70-75 loose keys, lying around my house – untagged. Around the house. In different locations. Although the kitchen has become a favorite place for him. Now before you get all preachy over how, where, and why I should keep up with this key collection, let me explain. We have had rental property all our lives. Not by choice. Like Everything in our lives together, it just happened. When Doug was 20 or 21, his grandmother, who lived in a mobile home, bought a new one and gave her old one to us. Since we were already living in a new one, she suggested we rent out the one she gave us. And that’s how it started. My husband is a very smart man. Always had business savvy. Over the years, as he acquired more and more properties, I was in charge of the keys. I always had to think of ways that he could quickly locate and grab the key he was looking for. I used different methods, but my favorite one was when I had him buy me a sheet of pegboard at Lowe’s that I spray painted dark blue and attached little hangy things (ok – hooks) for each address. Then, I used my label maker and printed out the addresses and attached to the pegboard and hung this on the wall. He comes in, grabs the key he wants – easy peezy.  Yeah, well.                                            I have to go this afternoon, after work and get him new car keys made. This will make the fourth time. But he’s down to one car key and my sister is starting to panic. My house is a Zoo!          Stay tuned.

God, what a weekend! When am I going to learn? Please, soon! I just sent him and his puppy to bed. I am so tired of him tonight. I know! That sounds horrible! Too bad. It’s true!
I took a vacation day from work on Friday, giving Doug and I a long weekend at the Lake.
Never mind. This is too depressing. I lived through the weekend. I do not have the energy to recount it. Needless to say – I am Beyond tired! Thank you, God, I have someplace to go tomorrow! I may return to this post. But I am too exhausted tonight. Stay tuned, if you want. Or don’t. Whatever.

Folks with Dementia need schedules, consistency, regulations.  They remind me a lot of 3 year olds. Dinner needs to be at the same time each night, also bedtime. Daily routines can vary, somewhat, but they have to know what to expect later. No surprises.

I say “folks” because, unfortunately, this is not my first go round with this damn disease! My mother, Sarah, passed away last year. She suffered several years with Alzheimer’s and her only sister is now deep in it’s throes.

I did not witness my mother’s early battle with Alzheimer’s. She lived next door to, and then later, with my sister. My sister and I had no experience looking for signs, or dealing with this disease. My mother always was a drama queen and had to be the center of attention (so I come by these traits honestly!).  My sister and I were annoyed that she didn’t remember the simplest things; despite being reminded over and over again!  When she was finally diagnosed  (in the hospital, after a small stroke), we were unprepared for the long physical and emotional journey we would take with her.

Needless to say, I Never expected to have my sweet guy travel down this road! And certainly – not at this age! But I must say; dealing with my mother, I have learned a lot about how to care for my guy. I have huge amounts of patience; something I had to acquire because God did not gift me with that trait!  I am his voice. Especially in the mornings, he simply cannot find his words. He tries to tell me something, but every other word is “that Thing”. We play a lot of charades at my house! I work, full time and get off work at 4:30. I am home, no later than 5:00. He expects me. I am his advocate. I constantly read and research this disease and pray they find a cure – like next Year! I go to every doctor’s appointment, court appearance (when necessary), I am his driver. I make sure he takes his medicine each day. I am his entertainment. I make sure he eats well and naps often. I am his love. I am his life.

None of this would be possible without my sweet, loving sister! It takes a village. As much as I hate that she is dealing with this (again), I thank Jesus every day that she is here to help us. She goes above and beyond, daily, to help Doug get through his day. She makes sure he has a good breakfast, actually swallows his pills, and tries to see that he rests.

He still goes out and works on the rental properties, every day. Mowing, cleaning, doing repairs. He needs to feel useful. He gets so frustrated if things don’t go the way he thinks they should. My sister and I spend a lot of time trying to make that happen for him. I know we are in the early part of our journey. I thank God every day for this man and I appreciate every day Now. I know what’s down that long, horrible road. I treat each one of these days like what they are. A Gift.❤️

I have agonized over whether to blog about this or not. I love my husband, deeply. We have been married for 47 years. But I can see that I am going to need an outlet – just for me! Since I believe only 2-3 people follow my blog, I’m not that concerned about his privacy. I will need to vent, on occasion. I have some truly wonderful friends, but, let’s face it. I can not, in good conscience, burden them with this. So – here goes.

My sweet, handsome, loyal, loving husband (who, just this month turned 67 years old) has early on-set Dementia. He has probably had it for about 3 years now. But he is also a diabetic and his sugar has been through the roof, so different things have presented themselves over this time period. It is only recently that we got a firm diagnosis.

He is seeing a neurologist who, on the first appointment, ordered a cat scan to rule out tumors, small strokes, etc. None of that was the case, but Doug didn’t do well on the verbal test. He got the date wrong. Didn’t know the President’s name (Doug can’t stand him and didn’t vote for him, so, no surprise to me that he forgot his name!)

He is on medication that lets him sleep well and helps control his paranoia. Oh, the stories I could tell about that!  Think, Robin Williams. I have read a lot about his particular type of dementia and see similarities to Doug’s. I pray my husband will not end up as Robin did. I will do my very best to make sure that doesn’t happen.  Stay tuned;  if you want. This will be quite the journey!