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Joined: 1/14/2015
Posts: 40463
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Originally posted by: Doug146
What do you do to keep your charge as sharp as possible? I get her involved in a game of scrabble (average 3 hours a game)or quiz her about things from the past, get her to help in meal prep. We walk two miles a day rain or shine. I know it's not very macho for a man to cry but my early morning time alone sure finds me doing a lot of that, but my time with her I must maintain a positive attitude and a happy face.
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Originally posted by: Home Bound Bob
Hold her hand. I hold my wife's hand if possible, whatever I am trying to do with her. She is just moving from stage 5 to stage 6.
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Originally posted by: Cathy J. M.
Take several photos of the day's activities and review them with her at night. Ideally (ha ha ha) it's great to take the best ones and make them into a slide show or power point presentation.
Also, writing a short note to someone is good since at least some people will write back.
Socializing helps too.
Don't forget balance exercises too.
I'm sure there's more. Gotta go.
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Originally posted by: FJB
Sounds like you are doing all the right things and then some Doug. I wish my bride could play scrabble or even checkers or a card game but she is now beyond being able to do that. I also try to walk with her and mow the grass with her but of late she gets into the neighbors yard so she cant do that anymore without my help. We have some special friends and she does seem very happy when we visit with them. So socializing is good for her. I tried to get her into golf a couple of yearss ago but it is a difficult game to learn especially when you are older but she seems to enjoy swatting a few balls anyway.
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Originally posted by: Cheryle Gardiner
Frankly, Doug, I think only real men are the ones who do cry, so forget that macho stuff.
Sounds to me as if you're doing all the right things to keep her mind sharp. Do you ever read to her, or is it too hard for her to listen?
Blessings.
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Originally posted by: dayn2nite
quote: Originally posted by Doug146:
What do you do to keep your charge as sharp as possible? I get her involved in a game of scrabble (average 3 hours a game)or quiz her about things from the past, get her to help in meal prep. We walk two miles a day rain or shine. I know it's not very macho for a man to cry but my early morning time alone sure finds me doing a lot of that, but my time with her I must maintain a positive attitude and a happy face.
These are nice things to do, but at the point they become too much for her (and you'll be able to tell by frustration, tears or anger), please don't continue to push it (move down a level in difficulty).
My experience with the quizzing about things in the past is there will be a point she can't remember something that is normally very memorable and it sometimes is a devastating realization when the answer won't come.
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Originally posted by: Cathy J. M.
BTW there's a travel version of Scrabble that's wonderful; we've been the envy of others in waiting rooms as we play and entertain ourselves.
At home we prefer UpWords -- similar to Scrabble but where you can build on top of letters to change words already made. For quite a few years we've played both games without scoring. Instead, we play cooperatively with the aim of using all the letters. Don't know if a "serious" Scrabble player could switch, but it takes the competitiveness and pressure out of it.
You might consider adding some simpler games and activities -- both for longer term pleasure and as anxiety-relieving, relaxing activities for the present. My stage 5 partner can't play canasta any more (at least, I believe this is true) and can play Kings in the Corner only sometimes -- but she loves to relax playing Authors. It's almost like a tranquilizer for her.
Even tho your wife, like my partner does well with words, consider adding some activities that use other senses and abilities. The white dominoes with colored dots (up to 12 dots) are beautiful and a good investment since they can be useful even at very late stages.
My partner's sight is in danger; if she lives long enough she may well be blind or near so. Right now I can get her a desk-type magnifying glass, but I also need to provide more activities that emphasize touch and hearing.
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Originally posted by: terromari
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Starling:
.
What the mental games and physical activities do is slow down the early progression of the disease. They mainly work in the before diagnosis stage.
. Activity won't stop the disease. It will slow it down.)
QUOTE]
We play tic tac toe on the IPAD -- he likes that and he likes "beating" me. And I hold his hand and watch TV with him and have lunch with him and take him to activities at the NH. Have to win lotto bigtime so I can have him back home with me.
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Originally posted by: Heidi L
my husband reads the paper ion the Am.
He doesnot understand how to operate the computer at all. soIread the top stoires before he gets up.
Then after he reads the paer I ask about certain stories too, we do discuss things he wnats to have done like no visation when he dies get him to the funeral home have him cremeated then ashes returned tome after that idecide when the memorial service wilbe.
soI siad ok write it ut in your writing then we will put it ina will so he does somewritingthen quits and re does it.
He hates crossword puzzles nd word search puzzles i even do word search puzzles.
in 2009 whenI had outpatient surgery in the hospitila.He forgot tjhey came out to tell himI was ok. soI reasured him they came out nad hewas probably hada bad pain day or sleepy since we had to be down ther by 5 am. but we do walk go to church, nd watch Tv read the paper etc too. He loves his dog an elkhound that willbe 13 this april Ihate tothink what wil happen when Alonzo des for he brushes him ut tlake to him tooand Ihave pictures ofthe dog or our furson.
I say tkae pictures have her arange them in aphot book nad maybe wtach game shows too something my better half will not do. bt I try to keep his mnd sharp.
On bad days I cry I journal iread, we also go tothe libary where he checks out history books toread which he loves to do and thenin 2 weeks take them backand get more for him toread ia lso read alot of books too.
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Originally posted by: Cathy J. M.
There's a lot of good info out there on cognitive rehabilitation for dementia patients. Keep in mind that some speech therapists are also trained in cognitive rehab, and Medicare covers home visits from them if a doctor orders it and the patient can't readily travel to a therapy office.
Cognitive Rehabilitation For People With Alzheimer's and Dementia
Linda Clare is an expert in this, having analyzed loads of studies to find out which interventions actually pay off most often.
Cognitive rehabilitation and people with dementia
There are several articles by her online, as I recall, and I bought a great book by her too, called "Neuropsychological Rehabilitation and People with Dementia."
One of her main points is that it's important to ask the person with AD what he or she would like improved in daily life. Then the "sharpening" activities can be tailored to the person's own goal, rather than the caregiver or therapist guessing about the best goals and methods. This seems obvious once the point is made, but it had never occurred to me to just ask my partner about her own goals!
Keep in mind, too, that the "disinhibition" that's part of AD tends to trigger a surge of creativity. John Zeisel's book, "I'm Still Here," talks about this a lot. Once you grasp this, you can help the LO find ways to use the creativity. Just looking at pictures of paintings, for example (or ideally, real paintings on exhibit), can trigger some fascinating perceptions and stories from someone with AD. And of course, if you can find or adapt a creative medium for the LO, that's fabulous.
Don't worry about things like this only applying to people with Mild Cognitive Impairment or stage 4 AD. Not so! My stage 5 partner is still very engaged in creative activities and word games, over two years after progressing from MCI to Alzheimer's -- and I'll be surprised if she can't do SOME things like this well into stage 6. (Stage 7 I envision more with touch, watching birds, listening to music -- but we'll see.)
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Originally posted by: Starling
Doug, mostly I did things to help my husband feel happy. He liked to go out to eat so we ate lunch out every day for a couple of years. He liked the couple who came to visit once a month for a few hours, so that was the kind of socialization we did.
What the mental games and physical activities do is slow down the early progression of the disease. They mainly work in the before diagnosis stage. The disease takes just as long if you do them or don't do them, but active people get diagnosed later and live more normal lives longer. (Most reporters don't get the info on this stuff right. Activity won't stop the disease. It will slow it down.)
The problem with pushing these activities is that at some point they make the patient very unhappy, so you have to be aware of that too and be willing to give up them "doing something" (mostly other than TV) when that happens.
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