Welcome to the new KnowItAlz caregiver website!  I hope that you can all see our added features by now.  My friend Beth has an Apple and can see it, so I hope that means everyone can!

This is the compilation of three years of information and resources my sister Nancy and I have found, and things I have learned from taking care of my sweet Dad, Lyman who has Alzheimer’s and has lived with me in North Carolina since 2004.

Each day I post a short story that shows the lighter side of caring for someone with dementia.  For example:

Dad had on a very dirty pair of pants the other day.  You can try to point that out to him, but he gets irritated.  So, I spilled a little bit of orange juice on them, so he would have to change.  It’s easier that trying to convince him they are dirty.

However, what I was not counting on was that he would insist that he take another shower before he would go “anywhere in public!”  This made Katie (his C.N.A aide) and him 45 minutes late to his physical therapy.

My lesson: Next time, dirty pants will be fine with me!

By Nancy Hatfield

As you know, Dad, Kathy and David are all in Atlanta visiting me for the weekend.  With all the stress in Kathy and David’s life, I thought a nice surprise would be to schedule massages for everyone.

The only time with 4 spots available was 10 am.  For the regular blog readers, you know Dad doesn’t like to get up early–”8:30…that’s the middle of the night!”

To prevent a fuss, we decided to use a regular trick from the bag and set his watch an hour ahead.

Thirty minutes before our scheduled time, we got a call saying Dad’s therapist had been in an auto accident.  She was ok, but we would have to move our appointment.

I told Dad he could slow down since we had an extra hour and our new appointment time was 11.

He said “oh Lord, we better hurry it’s quarter to 11 now!”

Dad, David, Lola and I are heading for Atlanta this afternoon to see my sister Nancy, in Atlanta for the weekend.

I have already packed for David, Dad and Lola.  I’ll get to my own stuff at the very end.

Last time I forgot all of my pants.  The time before that I forgot Dad’s pajamas.  I made a checklist this time to make sure we all have everything.

Seems like I found a lot of checklists in Dad’s room when cleaning out his condo.  Hmmmmm.

Dad has been having unusually low blood pressure over the last few weeks, so both Katie (CNA) and I check his blood pressure three times throughout the day.

Each time the reading is announced, he says, “100 plus your age is the best blood pressure.”

He especially enjoys it when it is 121 over something.  He’ll say, “Now I can get a legal drink!”

I told him that the “100 plus your age” rule was only true way back when people only lived to be 60!

Dad came in to my office earlier, and I was frantically looking for something for one of my customers.  I’ll admit, there was a small amount of cursing going on, and Dad asked what was wrong.  It has been a VERY busy and problem-filled morning for me at work.

“I am having a problem with work.” I replied.

“I hope I have not done anything to make your day worse.” He said.

“This is the first I’ve seen of you today, how could you have done anything to make my day worse?” I asked.

Dad said, “Well, if this is the first you have seen of me, maybe that’s your problem!”

Dad went to dinner with my sister, Susan and brother-in-law Joe last night, while David and I went to take Jessica home.

They had Chinese food, and Susan told me this morning that Dad’s fortune cookie read, “Sweet rewards will be coming to you.”  Dad took that to mean he should order dessert.

Susan said that it was sort of a “no-brainer” fortune, since it did come inside a cookie.

Jessica, my stepdaughter was here this weekend.  She is really terrific with her “Pop Pop”, and if we go out, she always makes sure he is right with her.  She talks to him about school, and answers his repetitive questions as if it were the first time he had asked.

This morning, Jessica was making him a bowl of cereal when she saw some raspberries, blueberries and blackberrries in the fridge, so she asked him what his favorite fruit was.

“Anything in a pie.” He replied.

I guess I will not have to worry about his Alzheimer’s taking away his appetite!