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Heart issues and breathing problems and dealing with dementia
Caregivers: Dementia | Last Active: Sep 28 11:49am | Replies (41)Comment receiving replies
Recent we were told Bill has serious dementia (and anger). One day is good than a bad day - never sure what triggers it. Yesterday he woke up happy as it was 'Thanksgiving' and I would be roasting the turkey and people coming to visit. Actually 4th of July weekend and no visitors. We laughed about it later and then before bedtime he mentioned he had really enjoyed Thanksgiving (I didn't feel like he was joking). I just agreed it was a really nice Thanksgiving. Hopefully he doesn't want turkey leftovers today!
Bill did have a severe drinking problem before I met him (37 years ago). Once we got together he gave up smoking (a 3 pack a day) and cut his drinking down to 1 to 2 drinks a night and now nothing. I think the heavy drinking did a lot of damage.
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Sadly, I have to agree with you about damage done to him because of drinking. Alcoholism is a disease that continues in the body and the mind. It will go to the weakest place in the body and make it worse. Thus my husband’s heart failure. In the mind, it changes cells permanently and is not reversible. If they stop drinking, the disease continues and if they start drinking again, they will start again where they left off. I have seen this in both my former husband and my present husband. What is so sad is that the potential for them to become a healthy happy person is gone forever. And you and I know that, but they don’t. We see the person they could have become, and they will never be. My husband stopped drinking, and went to several AA meetings. His thinking and his anger are better, but he still has more to work on. However, he doesn’t realize this, and is finished with AA.