Expecting the Unexpected: Surprises Along the Alzheimer's Journey

There can be personality changes with Alzheimer's disease. My gregarious grandfather who had the best, most contagious laugh became very quiet. We wondered if he was afraid he would say something wrong, so he didn't say anything at all.

Personality changes with Alzheimer's

I heard my dad curse for the first time. That was a shocker. My kids thought it was hilarious.

We were pushing dad in his wheelchair at the county fair. The pathways aren't exactly smooth. He suddenly exclaimed, when I asked how he was doing, that his a$$ was sore!

Mom is funny, even through her dementia

I'm surprised that, in the midst of her challenges, mom is funny! I think she might be clueless, but she will come back at me with sarcasm. I love it!

She had fallen asleep the other evening and didn't wake up until I was ready to go to bed. Mom was so confused, "You mean I woke up when it's time to go to bed?!"

I didn't want her to think it was time to take her next day's pills. I pointed to the new clock we got her that told the day - the clock read nighttime, not morning.

She was still so flabbergasted. She said she never does that - to sleep like that so long! "Mom, you do that all the time!" I exclaimed.

"WHO MEEEE?!" she said with self-deprecating humor and sarcasm. She gave the same tongue-in-cheek self-defense when I told her she had complained about something.

It was so funny. Mom doesn't seem aware of what's going on, comments the kids make go over her head, but she is self-aware. And that comes as a pleasant surprise.

Surprised with Alzheimers and forgetting directions

It surprises me how quickly the grasp of something can go.

Mom and I started a 2000 piece puzzle. It was supposed to be a family puzzle, but the family basically bailed. Mom was doing alright at the beginning. She found several pieces on her own, even random ones I wouldn't have tried. She wasn't confident, but we encouraged her that she could do it.

By the end, I had to explain how puzzle pieces go together. I had to look up what the parts of a puzzle piece are called so I could explain it. "You can't put the holes to the holes, mom."

"The knob goes into the hole, see?!" I would turn the pieces over and show her. It was easier to see that way. Two thousand pieces are a lot. By the end, I was over it, and Mom was puzzled by the puzzle.

I saved the last few pieces for her to complete the picture. It's still on the table in the family room. If it’s our last puzzle, I want to enjoy it. It is a beautiful sunset, surprisingly.