It's Been a while....!

Where has the time gone?

Hello Big World! 

It has been a while... 4 years to be precise. Reading through my old posts I realise just how much time has flown by. 

Much has changed since and yet I still have so many stories to tell about living with the Alzheimer's Alien. 

Just for a quick catch up before I start typing away about all our experiences...Here We go:

 My Grandpa is still going strong - Better than most considering he has Had Alzheimer's for 10 years now. Two Years or so ago we admitted my Oupa into a lovely home in the hills of  Westcliff in Johannesburg surrounded by beautiful old homes, some with history. This home is called PARK CARE. Park Care Home http://parkcare.co.za/wp/ ( Their Facebook Page and Website). They Specialize in frail care, step down care etc. The Staff are amazing and take great care of our loved ones and we know they are happy and content! :) 

There are different sections to this special place and for the Alzheimer's and Dementia patients - The Building They stay in is called "Forget me Not". ( The Irony..LOL) How precious? Each section is named after flowers.

This was definitely the Best decision we could have made as sadly, it became too difficult for my Mom and I to take care of My Oupa with the changes ( Changes in which I will branch out in more detail in other posts).

As of 2017 - My Oupa is now 80 years young until November. 

I think he may just live forever!

Until Next time...

Granddaughter - mainly known as "Lovey"

Cait x

Back In Time

Hi All!

I hope everyone is doing well with still three days to go till the weekend? I can most definitely say I cannot wait till the weekend arrives again! LOL.

Alrighty, In my previous post I said that I would explain what I meant that my grandpa has in a strange way forgotten his present family. My grandpa is about 76 this year and is still quite healthy considering, which We can be grateful for.

My grandpa, Whom I call Oupa, has in the last year or two spoken about his "mommy and daddy" everyday! They lived in Parys when he was young on a farm with, according to him, a mountain right in the middle. I, myself have never seen this farm. Hehe. Anyway. Everyday he asks, where are mommy and daddy?  I must call them because I know that my daddy works. I hope they are okay, the world is in a mess.

We tell him that they called and that they are fine. it sets his mind at ease for about.... 5 minutes and then asks again. With reading nastradamus(not sure how to spell his name) he thought for a year and half that world was coming to an end and with the whole episode of it possibly happening this year we thought, shoo! He may know something we don't! Luckily that was not the case LOL. Nowadays the world is just purely in a mess! No Matter what he reads or hears on the radio, its a mess.

The radio often speaks to him and tells him what is going on etc. One night we had an episode where I went to turn off some lights and he was sitting by the radio rubbing his hand over it left and right... We couldn't figure out what he was doing. This was at about midnight which is very late for him to be up as lately he's in bed at 17:00pm everyday! I went in and asked what he was doing and apparently he was waiting for "them" to tell him what to do to help save the world. I told him it was time for bed as it was very late, and as I turned the radio off he shouted at me and put it back on! I said :"no oupa, its very late and we all need to go to sleep now. They will tell you if they need your help" I switched the radio off again and he shoutes, again and tried putting it back on so I stepped in the way.

I managed to get him to go to his room after long stories and him shouting at me. Some where in there his mommy and daddy were helping to save the world!

If only it were true! LOL

Till next time!

Sweet Dreams!

Lovies

Cait

Catch Up

Hey there! :)

So, Continuing from the previous post.... Talking about "bath" day:) Luckily Yesterday was calm and my grandpa was happy to jump in the bath!

Although, The reason I am talking about this, is because of the "aggressive" side of the alien that is coming out now. He's not to bad at least... yet.. but a few times, as I said before its quite an argument to get him to go bath but sometimes its just a bit more difficult.

Last week I had asked him to bath because he refused to listen to Maria. Boy oh boy was that a bad day for him. I was told that I will not tell him what to do and he will tell god to punish me with Death. Now just a point, My grandpa was atheist and never bothered about god... Now he prays to his god everyday ALL day and says "Please my god, help me" every two seconds no matter who is around or whatever he is he doing. I think maybe It's a good thing that he leans on something or someone such as his god! Except, lol not when He wants to ask him to punish me with death hahaha but I just laugh it off because I know it's not my grandpa speaking.

It's an Alzheimers thing when you can have a full on conversation or even ask one question and they either dont hear you at all and you think they are ignoring you OR they give a completely random answer that has absolutely nothing to do with what you have asked. SO with regards to this, He will go wash his hands plenty times in the bath and if we ask him to stop and just rather get in the bath he carries on.

So, I had to try take the soap away to incourage him to climb in instead he tried to grab it from me and then raised his hand, He has tried to smack Maria too but he's never really got to the point of actually making contact... but as I say we just laugh it off:) Its the best we can do! Although! for the first time in.... I think its six years hes been staying with us... He swore! Saying "You people must't F*#k with me" twice! We were like Whoa! Haven't heard that word out his mouth in a loooong time!

He would also say I am nothing to him and I would say But  I am your Granddaughter he would respond with, you are nothing of the kind...

LOL That's how you know he has forgotten his present Family....

Which will lead me to my next post about how far back his memory goes :)

Till the next post,

Loves,

Cait

One of those days

Hi There!


So tomorrow is Tuesday.... I mention this because every Tuesday and Friday is "bath" day for my grandfather. It seems that its maybe not often enough but my word is it a mission to get him too.

There are times when we start running the bath water that there is no problem and he is quite happy to do so. Other days its a big argument and "why must I bath?" Also trying to get him to change these days is hard too so we tend to leave him in whatever he is wearing till the next "bath" day or if we're lucky he will change on his own... we don't hold our breath for that one!

The main fight on these days was getting him to put fresh clean clothes on and he would tell us that the ones he was wearing (even with dirty marks on) were clean and fine to wear again. A very stubborn man this! LOL.

We are getting to a stage though, where as normal Maria would get the bath going and get the clothes ready and ask him to bath. I know now if she takes longer than normal that she is coming to ask for my help to get him in the bath. *CRINGE*. Off I will go, making sure I have my cup of tea to keep me calm (I Have to be careful that my grandpa doesnt think its coffee - Done that a few times)  It is quite a long episode and a lot of mean ugly things get said to Maria and I because, Who are we to tell him what to do?

But that's enough for tonight as I am starting to doze off :( LOL


Will surely carry on tomorrow with the rest of this venture!

Loves

xx

Hi Everyone :)

There are no words to even begin explaining the changes there have been with my grandpa in the last year...

I Can finally start catching up on the blogging and more frequently now with a laptop and all. It has been a stressful year with many scares and strange activities that have gone on.

I will start explaining the changes etc in my next post but also try my best to put them in order for you to understand the stages of Alzheimers as well as when things happen.

Till the next post, later today!

Goodbye :)

Thank you!

Hey There everyone!

Shooo! It has been a while since I have blogged about my grandfather with Alzheimers, but no worries! I am back and will start again tonight.

I am happy to be back and cant wait to start. It has been an interesting journey with the Alzeimers alien.

See you later

xx

They say things happen for a reason...

I wish I knew what the reason was for my grandpa having this awful invasion of Alzheimers and the reason as to why my mom as well as myself has to go through it after everything else. Unfortunately no one out there can give us the answer.

This alien that has invaded my grandpa, makes him do the weirdest things that a person could and you always ask yourself, What in their brain makes them do such things. In a post or two's time I will be closing up the before stories of what he has been through and done especially in the last few months. Then from will be the diary of each day that he lives, doing these weird and wonderful things. Although, not so wonderful.

I have a green Ford Escort that used to be my moms, now my grandpa was a man of WHITE cars and that's pretty much how it should be. If you walked into his garage at the farm, whether it be my grans, uncles, works or his personal car they were ALL white. I'm not quite sure why though!

Well, my green car is now HIS car! even though he no longer has a license and of course could not drive. I have endless arguments about who's car it is and boy does he come up with millions of reasons as to why or how it is his. I know we shouldn't argue with them but the alien seems to make them a bit meaner and aggressive. I try every now and then not to argue and just agree that it's his car but then he goes on and on about how no one else must drive it.

Maria, our help tells us the things he says when we aren't around and surprisingly he speaks a lot to her, oh and her name to him is Martha because that is the name of the lady who used to work for him on his farm. No matter how much we told him it's Maria, he just refused to leave it that way.

The one day I came home after doing some deliveries and he came out the front to come and speak to me. He spies out the bathroom window (as it faces the road) to see who is coming or going or what we are even doing in the garden instead of coming out. He came to tell me how it's his car and he hopes I have left petrol in for him so he can get home. I just said yes there is LOL but he was quite assertive and harsh on the looks.

The spying thing... Why? We don't know!

If we catch him and ask him why or what he is spying on he goes quiet then gives you some really random excuse like he's looking at a car that was driving past - There were none at the time- whilst he is leaning, if not climbing into the bath to look out the window. The one window used to open to face our kitchen window and we always got that weary feeling that someone was watching us and true as bob he was "secretly" doing that. We finally found a way after writing signs and sticking them to his window saying "do not open this window" and blocked it with a plant and some things that were lying around. Thank goodness over time he got over opening that window. Although he still tries out the other window.

Trust me.... It is not easy!

Till next time Xx