"He looks so normal!"

This comment was made by a friend of ours. She said it with a tone of incredulity, finding it hard to believe that he could have advanced dementia. In fairness, it is not someone who spends a lot of time with us. Jim does look normal. Sometimes dementia is called the hidden disease because you can't really see it. Spending a significant amount of time with Jim would quickly bring an awareness of the deficits. 

The other issue is  that dementia is associated with a much older age. At 68, Jim is much younger than most folks afflicted with this disease. We think of someone very old and physically frail when we think of someone with dementia.

Jim is so handsome. Beautiful brown eyes. A smile that would melt your heart. His black hair over the years has turned into a salt and pepper (mostly salt) color. He is trim and dresses impeccably. So yes, to look at him he looks "normal". And when among strangers, if the conversation is brief, no one would be the wiser. 

The driveway sealer guy came by the other day to give us an estimate. We happened to be outside. Jim shook the guy's hand, we made very brief small talk about the weather. And then Jim said "yes, I've seen you every day this week!". This very polite, kind guy paused for a moment, and then said "well, I've certainly been pretty busy". 

It's one of those comments that isn't seriously off, but enough off where you kind of wonder about it. 

When we have workers at our house, I almost always am able to give a "heads up" by phone prior to any work being done. This strategy has worked well to prevent misunderstandings. I've always found workers to be kind and understanding. 

Typically our days involve two separate outings. One late morning and the other mid-afternoon. Jim will take the lead "Let's get going!", having no idea where we would/should go. Our trips out of the house are always relatively close to home. We go to Wegmans almost daily. He loves it and it is a low stress trip. I am careful to avoid peak times when it would be busy. Going as often as we do, there are usually only a handful of things on our list. 

The other trip might be to Costco, or just for a short ride down some nearby rural roads. The trips are short, otherwise I risk an upset. As soon as we get home he almost always heads to the sofa to rest/sleep. 

Gardening and yard chores continue to keep me in the weeds and shrubbery too often for my liking. Jim enjoys sweeping the driveway, and will make it into quite the production as I work outside. I've had two encounters with snakes that caused me to retreat to a different part of the yard. I think they are garter snakes, but geez, both encounters the snake raised his ugly head and hissed at me! I wear my tall rubber garden boots, so that gives me a bit more confidence. But I just can't get used to the snakes! 

This is an interesting link. It connects the 7 stages (and substages)  of dementia with the corresponding expected duration of the substage, the corresponding mental age in years, and the MMSE score. Before I found this link, I would have guessed that Jim's MMSE score would be about 7 - 8. I don't know for sure, as he did not agree to the testing at the doctor's appointment. As far as the mental age, I don't quite know what to think of that correlation. But it is useful in that it is a reminder that expectations need to be realistic as the decline continues. 

Jim is at stage 6B, kind of. He is unable to do any of the preparation for getting ready to shower, including turning on the water and adjusting the temperature. I'm not sure what actually happens in the shower, but he always smells sweet and clean 😀.  He is in the beginning stage of some intermittent minor issues with toileting. 

One of my more recent observations is that Jim is totally just trying to get through his day and be able to make sense out of the world around him. Many times he is unable to process what is being said. Minimizing outside stimuli, waiting for a quite moment, and keeping my words short, to the point and without a lot of detail seem to work the best for Jim. A soft loving voice and a gentle touch or kiss all go a long way in helping Jim to feel more secure in his environment.

I have my moments where it still is just incredibly sad. Our future together is not at all the way we had planned. But, the good news is that Jim seems pretty content. His anxiety is so much better. What more could I ask? 

Thanks stopping by. I so appreciate each one of you.