The Ten Signs

 

 Several years ago, a friend and I went to see Bill Engvall in Columbia. As I neared the venue, I saw people holding signs, and I said, “Oh, look. There are protesters in front of the building.”

 When I was closer I could read the signs, and they said, “Here’s Your Sign.” Well, at that moment I wondered what it was a sign of that I hadn’t figured that out before I read the signs.

Life is filled with signs and clues. We might read daily horoscopes to see what the day holds in store. 

Signs are everywhere, including ten signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

1.   Memory loss that disrupts daily life. The most common sign of Alzheimer’s disease is short-term memory loss. Often old friends will not realize someone has dementia because they can remember in detail something that happened thirty years ago. “There’s nothing wrong with his memory,” one of Jim’s cousins told me. They had been talking about the old days, and Jim had perfect recall. What his cousin didn’t notice was that Jim couldn’t remember recent events no matter how important. 

2.   Challenges in planning or solving problems. Forgetting how to complete tasks that you once knew is one of the obvious signs. Jim was always mechanically inclined and could fix just about anything. After dementia affected his reasoning, he tore apart a vacuum sweeper and couldn’t put it back together. He tore into a VCR with the same results. The man that planned and built two homes couldn’t figure out how to measure the well house for siding.

3.   Difficulty completing familiar tasks. One day I asked Jim to make a grocery list for me. He took a pen and paper, and I started telling him what we needed. He wrote a few items on the paper and then told me he didn’t want to make the list. I picked it up to finish and noticed that although he had printed letters on the sheet, some of them didn’t make words. I remember he had written “taper powels” for “paper towels.”

4.   Confusion with time or place. Jim often asked me what the date was or the day of the week. Reading a calendar became too difficult for him. One time during a doctor’s visit, they asked him what season it was, and he didn’t know. He couldn’t answer the question  from multiple choice or clues. He also didn’t know what town he was in, only that he was at a doctor’s office.

5.   Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. Jim had always been a reader, and we visited the bookstore on a regular basis. I began to notice that he bought several copies of the same book. I finally noticed that at night when he was reading his book, he wasn’t turning the pages. He couldn’t follow the storyline of a book or a show on TV . He watched To Hell and Back so many times that we replaced the VCR movie three times. He taped (or tried to) every Walker Texas Ranger TV show.

6.   New problems with words in speaking or writing. Jim had aphasia and eventually quit speaking except for rare occasions. At first, he occasionally printed something, but after about five years, he could only write his name—and his signature changed, with some of the letters in cursive and others printed. 

7.   Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. Jim was constantly looking for objects, but with his limited speech, he would say, “Right here, but I can’t find it.” Sometimes I could figure out what he was trying to find, and other times, I just helped him “look” because I had no idea what he had lost.

8.   Decreased or poor judgment. Jim became the telemarketer’s best friend. He didn’t understand what they were trying to sell and would agree to buy anything. I had to cancel Dish channels, tickets to charity events, and extended warranties. Some of the people were easier to work with than others. Since Jim couldn’t write a check or give a credit card number, they eventually had to deal with me.

9.   Withdrawal from work or social activities. Jim had always loved visiting with family, but as he lost his ability to follow a conversation, or to participate, he would sometimes just wander away from the group. We had always played pitch, and Jim went from being a formidable opponent to one who didn’t know which cards to play. Before he stopped playing completely, his mom sat by him and helped him.  

10. Changes in mood and personality. Jim’s personality underwent drastic changes. He liked to tell stories to the kids, he joked around with his cousins, and he was an expert on many subjects. All that changed. He became more childlike, sometimes docile, other times frustrated and angry.

 

The signs of Alzheimer’s or dementia are far beyond the typical age-related changes. I know that I can sometimes worry when I can’t find the right word, or find my cell phone, or multitask the way I used to be able to do. I also know that a recent scan showed “age-related changes” in my brain. My doctor assured me that it is not Alzheimer’s, but I needed to watch my “numbers” to maintain my brain. We all know that we need to use it or lose it under the best of circumstances.

Forewarned is forearmed, and I intend to stave off vascular dementia. Here’s my sign: “Monitor blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight.” So far, I’m doing fine, and I intend to keep it that way. 

 

 

Copyright © Sept 2023 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

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