Taurus 2022

April, my birth month.

Born under the Zodiac sign of Taurus, The Bull. Taurus are said to be stubborn, intelligent, organized, very understanding, value honesty, kindness & hardworking.

I’m not sure which of those attributes, or all of them, helped this past April – month of hallucinations – month of hell.

It all started out seemingly innocent. A light flipped on at 11:53 p.m. waking me up. My husband looked completely frazzled & told me that we have a wedding to attend tonight. I guided him back to his room (it’s the only way I sleep). I convinced him that we would check our calendar in the morning, even though I knew no wedding scheduled.

He is up at 12:31 a.m. looking for his lost sandwich. His water glass is a souvenir cup from a restaurant. He has his drink, but said he cannot find the sandwich. I lead him back to the bedroom with a promise to look for that sandwich later.

I heard him walking down from the 2nd floor around 2 a.m. looking for the bathroom. Oh dear, only a commode on that floor. Two bathrooms on main level & one in basement.

Another early morning at 4 am, he opened the bedroom door, turned light on, off & shut the door. Repeated several times before going to bed. Repeated it again at 6 a.m. An hour later, he told me our daughter kept opening his door and peeking in, but not saying anything. Right, the child that loves to sleep.

The next early morning adventure was light on at 4 am just to be asked what color it is….no clue, but my answer of “blue” must have been correct. An hour later he is running through house yelling if mom has the phone; followed by ‘how much money did he drop in the living room?’

I started sleeping in the recliner after his hallucinations were taking him outside. The bus almost hit the house, then the car. There were many reasons to go outside between midnight & 6 a.m.

I stopped taking notes when he was convinced that he had stolen a car. That was very hard to watch him suffer. Never would he ever consider stealing anything. He wasn’t sure if he was working with the police department or the mafia.

The neurologist sent him to a specialist for another evaluation. Both agreed that he likely has Lewy Body Dementia instead of FTD. The hallincinations were calmed by helping him get more REM sleep.

April was so frightening for both of us. I’m not even sure we celebrated my birthday. Maybe it was frozen yogurt with chocolate sauce followed by a nap – two of my favorite things!

Be in the moment. Be understanding. Be kind. The person with dementia is not trying to give you a hard time, the person with dementia is having a hard time.