Dotty is back and in a way I never could have expected...
Alzheimer's Reading Room
What stage? Well, she was admitted to the Dimebon clinical trial for patients in the moderate to severe stage of Alzheimer's in January, 2010.
I really didn't want to write about what is happening with Dotty right now for another week or two. And, I am not going to go into great detail today. I will do that next week.
Something is going on. Dotty is more engaged and at a higher level of awareness then she has been in a long time. How long? Since she was enrolled in the Dimebon clinical trial last year.
There are two things that have changed in the last few weeks. First, Dotty came back from her illness which lasted about 5 weeks. She couldn't walk, wasn't there, and as many of you know it was horrible while she was sick.
Frankly, I fully expected Dotty to be at least a few steps down the Alzheimer's staircase when she got better. In other words, I did not expect her to come back to where she was before she got sick.
Mama mia, what can I say? She is walking up the down staircase.
What is the second thing that changed? The parrots. First there was Pete. The sweet little parrot I already told you about.
Notice I said parrots. Well, I finally found our older (4 years) Pete the parrot. Old Pete has now undergone a name change. He is now named Harvey. Harvey is Petey's daddy.
Harvey is a little chunkier and Dotty says, meaner looking. Harvey has a stronger voice and better sound system. Harvey and Petey are almost identical looking. They came from the same manufacturer.
So, the only thing in our environment that changed were the parrots.
It appears that these parrots are important. At least to Dotty and me.
Dotty is talking to these parrots at least two hours a day. She is really engaged.
I will write in detail about how I am using Harvey and Petey next week. At that time I will also write about all the things that Dotty is doing that she has not done in years.
For now I'll stick to what happened this morning. First off, Dotty is back to getting up very early. Here is another difference. Instead of complaining she is hungry, essentially begging for food, Dotty is now making her own breakfast. Twice today (three times yesterday).
Nothing fancy here. Cereal in a bowl with milk. Nevertheless, this had become a rare occurrence. Ah, I may as well mention this. Dotty is also using the microwave to warm up her coffee. Three times so far. She had not touched the microwave in years. I am surprised she even knows what it is. Although, she does see me using it all the time.
Now for the biggie. Dotty managed to open a tin of anchovies (third breakfast, yep ate em all after two bowls of cereal). You know those tiny anchovy tins where you have to pull the tab. Ever tried to open one? It is not easy. I am amazed that she figured it out and did it.
Dotty also managed to find the semi-hidden cookies this morning. Something she has not been able to do in a long time. She helped herself to some cookies (fourth breakfast).
Dotty is doing a long list of things that she has not done in years, or many years. Some of them are more complex than you might think.
I see some of you bought a Pete the Parrot. Turn it on, leave it on. Pay attention. Interact with the parrot from time to time yourself. Sing. Let us know what you observe.
Dotty is back. She is feeling, well, 100 percent I think. She is having a lot of headaches. Plenty of pee and poop these days. She can now walk short distances on her own. We have not used the wheelchair in two weeks. Dotty doesn't use a walker.
If you want to hear Dotty via podcast this morning -- go here. For those of you that have been listening along you will notice that Dotty sounds very different. This one is a bit long but there is some new material at the end.
Here is Pete.
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Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading RoomBob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an X Wall Street executive turned full time Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 41,60010 articles with more than 450,100 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.
