Alzheimer's Blogging: Alzheimer's Blog:

One of the things I learned about Alzheimer's with my father in law, is he didn't want to take baths. I had to get creative to talk him into the bath tub. I would tell him that I just had my bath and that I filled the tub for him, so it was his turn. I would listen and he really didn't get into the bath tub. He would fill the sink full of water and splash the water on his face and then tell me he bathed. So I would make him get into the bathtub with him complaining. "Why didn't you make me take a bath when I was in the war," he would say. Or "Why did you make me kill women and children." His mind would go back into the past and he would blame me for what he went through.

As he would get worse I would finally undress him and put him in the tub. I kept a bath chair sitting in the tub so he didn't have to sit low in the tub. At first this was good and he would wash up. I would leave and give him his privacy but again his mind kept slipping and I would have to put him in the tub and start to bath him, to show him what to do, and than he would finish. Unfortunately towards the end, I was bathing him.

He was good at brushing his teeth and shaving at first. Than I would have to show him how to use the razor and I would take out my tooth brush to show him how to brush. One of the things about this terrible disease is how it melts the brain. How it takes a strong brain and it turns into a weak brain. I hate this disease. Remember that they don't know what you are doing. Have patience with them. And remember you are human and will make mistakes. Learn how to forgive your self.

Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint Of James A Rock Pub., Co.
www.mariefostino.com
www.mariefostino.blogspot.com