Fading

/

Sometimes I think Patty is playing with me - it seems she does some weird things that are kind of funny. Maybe this is me attempting to make light of serious mind deterioration - Alzheimer's. Maybe it is me holding on to a piece of Patty - her sense of humor.

It’s been ten years since Bridget thought it was appropriate to check Patty for Alzheimer's. She was diagnosed with early stage (whatever that means) in 2012. Whitney, her primary doctor said she is now late stage (whatever that means.)

I started a list of weird happenings a while back. Here are some:

  • Eating dog treats at a store.

  • Eating a ginger bread Christmas ornament.

  • Getting her sweater stuck around her waist.

  • Stepping into her bra

  • Peeing into a waste basket.

  • Finding her nighty in the refrigerator.

I gave Patty a full length flannel nighty for Christmas. Her old nighty has a zillion buttons down the front - frustrating to get them all buttoned. The new nighty has only five or six. You pull the nighty over your head. You can even leave the buttons unbuttoned, for a sexy look.

One of the first uses of the new nighty went like this: I got the nighty over Patty’s head, but couldn’t get her arms in the arm holes. So we tried to step into the nighty - that worked a little better but still didn’t complete the job. I threw up my arms and popped into bed, saying you do it. Feeling bad, I quickly got up and tried again. We finally succeeded. I am now happy to help button up the zillion buttons on the old nighty which is frayed, but works.

Alzheimer's is such a long disease that death isn’t a constant thought - it is easy to put aside. As Patty is fading away, that is not so easy any more.

Fading