Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
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The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20111120044228/http://www.kissmygumbo.com:80/
From the Rolling Stones song, “Sympathy For the Devil” comes a line that always makes me think of Dad, “Pleased to meet you, Hope you guess my name.”
Heeeelllllloooo has become a standard greeting at our house, because frankly, dad does not recall who he is actually looking for but wants someone’s attention. Jokingly, it is how we all greet each other around here too (hehehe). People always ask me if my dad knows my name or recognizes me anymore. My standard reply is, “Most the time he knows who I am or recognizes me, but it really does not matter or bother me if he does not.” And yes, I am serious. Hell, I can’t remember names and faces either – never have been able to (worse after a head injury). But enough about me…this is about Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.
Not remembering the face or name of someone the person has knows forever, seems to be the thing that bothers OTHER people the most. I really do not understand that, it is another one of those “It is what is is things.” Put yourself in that person’s place – it sucks for them that they can’t recall it so why stress them out! In their day to day existence, remembering your name or face is not important to them – so DEAL WITH IT. I parallel this to a funeral not being important for the deceased person, it is for the family. Alzheimer’s is not about you – but about that person. My kids are the best, they introduce themselves to dad over and over. “Hi Zaydeh, it is me, Scott, your Grandson. How are you doing today?” Dad usually responds with a smile and a “things are great” and goes back to coloring or what he was doing. My kids have learned to never ask the leading questions,”Do you know who I am?” or “What is my name?” I just wish others would learn this, so it is my mission to inform them – whether they like it or not:)
Dad lives for the here and now and as caregivers or family members or friends with someone who has Alzheimer’s Disease/Dementia, you should too. Be happy for the time you get to spend with them in this unfiltered and different phase of their life. After all, I would say that Dad is pretty happy in his new little world. My job is to make sure he stays happy, safe and all his needs are met. It isn’t all a picnic, won’t blow smoke up your butt here, but the memories we are making now with the most amazing father a girl could ever ask for, is fine with me!
When people ask me how I am or how dad is, my standard answer is, “Every day with Dad and Alzheimer’s is a new adventure.” It truly is and my whole family is blessed to have him here with us. We do not stress about his “unlearning” or how things will be, but take each day as it comes. And I tell you, we laugh a lot here! Not at his expense, but because finding the humor in it is the only thing to keep everyone sane.
On with this fixation and reality thingy… My boys and hubby are big NCIS fans (I prefer trash TV). Dad is no longer allowed to watch it with them after he thought there was a man with a gun in the house. It took a little bit to figure out how he got that in his head, but NCIS was the culprit. This man with the gun was a fixation for a couple of days and we did much exploring around the house seeking him out. That was my first clue that Dad’s Alzheimer’s makes him unable to separate fact from fantasy (I’ve read about it – but different when it happens to you). Sometimes he thinks the Drew Brees picture is my husband (though we would take his income – we had to take that down for now) and that I am singing on the X-Factor (lordy – I am tone deaf). He also can get fixated on a thought. These bouts of OCD can last a few hours or a few days. Sometime they even resurface after being gone a bit and sometimes they go to rest in the OCD grave forever (Snoopy Dance)!!! Fixations can start as a happy thought or a dream and possibly start driving him crazy (and everyone else if we did not laugh). Ya – my husband always eggs these on when he gets home from work- UGH!
The topic of the moment knows no end until the next thing comes along. There has been the song Danny Boy (Danny was in the house somewhere), wanting to rake leaves, that guy (his reflection), dangerous small children that were an inch high (sparked from story time at the library which he loves), 2 men that took all his money, money…the list goes on and on. Kind of like a skipped record (if anyone knows what that means anymore), seems the Alzheimer’s brain can just get stuck and not move on from a thought. As for the reality part, I think of it like having a dream that seemed so vivid when you wake up. After you get your bearings and rub your eyes, you snap back to reality, where Dad can not. And don’t worry, not all these OCD/fantasy behaviors are negative – some of them are welcome. He gets on a coloring roll, and I can’t get him enough papers to color and markers to make him happy. Also, some of these fantasies aren’t so bad either, but can become frustrating to him if he can’t sort them out and it goes on too long. I will say this – if I never hear the song “Danny Boy” again – that is fine with me!!!
Dear Little Hoodlums, I was thrilled to be asleep at 10:30 on Friday night- I’m a real party animal these days. Go on, laugh at me for being so lame. When you decided to to wake me from my sleep by playing “Ding Dong Ditch” or “Ring and Run” I laughed the first time. After [...]
Many people think I am Superwoman, being a wife, mother of 3, caring for my dad and running a business while trying to fit in friends and working out. The fact of the matter is, I could do everything, but not do it well if it weren’t for outside help. When my father came to [...]
Second Harvest Food Bank is a worthy cause and I am honored they asked me to Twitter their final concert of the season, Harvest the Music. When: Wednesday November 2nd Where: Lafayette Square Time: 5:00-7:30 Cost: Free but you can buy food and drink tickets there or on-line (that keeps it free). No outside food [...]
A couple of months ago, I noticed dad talking to himself in the mirror. Sometimes he slips into his happy little world of talking to himself and he goes on and on with conversations. I used to try and draw him out, but realized he is most happy and comforted with this state of mind. [...]
***Note – updated links on bottom Not all people spend as much time on the web as I do. I have collected a variety of links that I highly recommend you check out before you vote this Saturday. Educate yourselves and make the best decisions you can! Coroner: here and here Parish Councilman: here Assessor [...]
Every day with Alzheimer’s and Dad is a new adventure – a non-stop rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows – often in a short period of time. Humor is one of the best ways for my family (and I believe any caregiver in this situation) to deal with this horrible disease that makes a person [...]
My business partner, Ed, and I both love politics – local, state, national, world. We may be on opposite sides of the tracks for the most part, but we both have a passion for it. Add in our love for social media and our great partnership that is Yatmedia, and you could say we monitor [...]
There is a lot of political poo-flinging in St. Tammany right now, but I would expect nothing less here. There also seems to be a movement to get some local incumbents out. If signs were to win elections, the incumbents would win -the streets is littered with them. But hopefully the people of St. Tammany [...]
