Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

Posted by judimahoney @judimahoney, 1 day ago

We are all being challenged to be very creative in response to our loved one's behaviors.

I have put up signs in just about every room as guidance for my husband.

There's a sign on the thermostat with the temps we keep the house at day and night. There's a sign on the dishwasher with directions for use, and I taped off the buttons we don't use and labeled them, 'Don't touch' because I had to keep resetting with the correct washing preferences every time he changed them.
The kitchen has a sign reminding him what our dog can't eat. I just bought a white board for the kitchen to track what he eats, since he sometimes has gluttonous behaviors and eats a meal twice because he doesn't remember eating.
There's a breakfast guidance visual showing him pictures of a cereal bowl, with directions to thaw his fruit before putting cereal on it, and quantities for milk and cereal (with photos of those products). Sometimes he forgets to refer to his guidance visual and eats cereal with frozen fruit, or doubles or triples recommended amounts.

In the dining room there's a sign I asked him to make himself (as an attempt to have him internalize the info; ha!), stating he can no longer take walks alone (he was trespassing and peeping in people's windows). I made that sign when he kept telling me he was going for a walk, alone. So, I made a sign that says he no longer walks by himself and needs to have a walking buddy, so far it's just me.
There are several nutritional signs helping us stay on track for the recommended Mediterranean diet.
On the bathroom mirror is a post-it note from his dental hygienist reminding him what areas to focus on, and one demonstrating how to clean his ears in the shower. There's also a love note from me on the mirror, our only happy sign!
I put labels on our bath towel racks, because he was either using mine and leaving me with a wet one, or putting his wet one on top of my dry one.

In the living room are signs for me regarding positive coping strategies, and a reminder to be positive.

I could go on, but wanted to write a bit about how this aspect of our lives has changed.

When our children were learning to read I labeled so many things in our home. I feel like I'm coming full circle, or something?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Caregivers: Dementia Support Group.

katrina123 | @katrina123 | 23 hours ago

Your husband is lucky to have you. You are an amazing person!!

celia16 | @celia16 | 19 hours ago

@judimahoney, I bet that requires a lot of work. I hope it’s helping with your situation. I used to try notes and signs too, but my family members didn’t find them helpful. They couldn’t seem to process the information on the note, even though they could read it. I suppose it depends on how progressed the dementia is. Hope yours works for your husband.

gilkesl | @gilkesl | 6 hours ago

It is somewhat true about coming full circle. An immature brain can be similar to one that is faultering. You are creative in designing solutions to the problems you encounter.

pierwell | @pierwell | 4 hours ago

Be grateful he can still read!

cnutt | @cnutt | 3 hours ago

In reply to @pierwell "Be grateful he can still read!" + (show)

@pierwell amen!

bclane | @bclane | 2 hours ago

It's interesting you mentioned that your husband forgets he eats and eats again. My husband doesn't eat another whole meal, but then he never was one to fix food himself. I'm in total control of that, which after having read some of the things you mentioned, I'm glad of it! But he does chow down on plain bread off and on all day, even when it hasn't been very long after his last meal. He's not overweight, so it's not a problem, but I have found it odd. Most of the time I read about people with dementia NOT eating, but apparently there are at least two of us with husbands who have dementia and do the opposite.

And what you said about the towels--with my husband, he had problems knowing which washrag to use. When he showers, he washes himself with his hand and then partially dries off with a washrag. Trouble was, he was using mine, which I use to wash my face. So, now I just take my washrag out of the bathroom when I'm getting him ready to shower. He can still shower himself, but he needs supervision getting undressed and dressed. Doesn't seem to know what deodorant is anymore (I direct him in its use after he's dried off), and the other day he used a handful of my hair conditioner to wash with even though I had pointed out the bar of soap to him when I was helping him get undressed. I hang his towel on a hook by the shower, and mine is hanging on the rack on the other side of the room, so that probably keeps the towels straight.

I've thought about trying notes because he can still read, but I have a pretty good idea that he wouldn't even notice them. I hope they work for you.

ocdogmom | @ocdogmom | 39 minutes ago

I wish notes would work for my husband. I tried it to get him to sit when he urinates so he wouldn't get it all over the floor, his underwear and his pants. he did not notice them so it didn't work. I think he can read the words but he can't turn that into an action. If there are things that I don't want him to access, I put them somewhere where he can't find them. Like his shaver because he likes to trim his beard but he doesn't know when to stop so he doesn't have much of a beard left and what is there is crooked. But I remind myself that it is something that he can still do and it's his face not mine. Small price to give him some autonomy over his person.