If I thought getting M ready to go to Memory Care Day Care was going to be easy . . . HA! I was fooling myself.
I understand there are lots of hoops to jump through and lots of boxes to be checked. But trying to get all that done while you’re working a full-time job AND managing a dementia patient is nerve-wracking, to say the least. It’s REALLY been like getting a kid ready for camp!
This past weekend, M was treating me as though I was The Other Girl all day Saturday. It’s not that bad, but he asks me questions, like “have you lived here long?” and “have you ever been to this store before?” I don’t try to tell him anything any differently – I just answer the question.
And everything is fine.
UNTIL – he realizes that I am his wife and he wants to know where The Other Girl is. Well, we’re kind of like Superman and Clark Kent; we both can’t be in the same place at the same time, so I sent her home.
He was having none of that. So he decided to get out of the car. As I was driving down the road to pick up dinner for him.
I managed to keep him in the car long enough to get the door locked and trap him in, but he was not happy.
And then it turns on a dime and he’s fine.
Today, as I drove into the garage, coming home from work, he opened the door from the house, crying as though his heart was breaking. I didn’t even get half-way in the garage before I jumped out of the car and ran in the house – I just knew one of the dogs had been killed or something terrible had happened.
No – he was just feeling sad.
Thankfully, we had a telehealth appointment this morning with his General Practitioner (GP) who works for the same health system I do. I was able to email him ahead of the appointment and let him know about some of the issues I’ve been dealing with, so I didn’t have to bring them up with M sitting beside me. The GP was not at all hesitant to prescribe something to help M sleep and something to even out his mood swings.
YAY!!
I’ll pick up the prescriptions tomorrow and I hope they’ll start a new, calmer chapter around here.
We head to Atlanta this weekend to see the Braves take on the Phillies, then M has his first half-day at Memory Care on Monday. It’s a half day to see how he does, so I’ll work from home so I can drop him off and pick him up.
Fingers crossed for a GREAT weekend and an even better first day.
I’m really concerned for you. Truist Stadium is going to be packed this weekend, as they are raising it to full capacity. Having worked for the Braves, I know this weekend will be really loud and extremely crowded, especially during departure. You can check out noise reducing headphones at guest services (section 111) or you can go into one of the cooling stations if he gets agitated by the crowd. There are ushers everywhere that can call medics or security. You should figure out the cooling station nearest your seats as soon as you get there. Don’t leave him alone without advising your usher of the situation. If he wanders away, finding him in a group of 44,000 people will be impossible. Dress him in something bright colored that’s easy to spot. I hope you have something else going with you.
I’ll post about our weekend soon, but you are absolutely right . . . I lost him in the crowd in the first two minutes we were there. Fortunately, that was the only time and I found him in a matter of minutes – but it was scary. Our younger son met us there (from Alabama) and it was a HUGE help!