To: andysandmikesmom
I had a great uncle like that, he had a form of Alzheimers called Pic's Disease, which is very rare, but its terminal, and he would act very odd with his clothes, wearing a nylon windbreaker next to his skin with a shirt over it, then a tweed jacket...and sleep in his brogues with his tie knotted.
He also used to cut his own hair.Ugh!! And he would walk.....for miles and miles....one night he took the wrong turn and walked for 6 hrs up the major highway....almost 20 miles away and was found by cops almost walking in traffic one morning.A horror show.
To: habs4ever
I dont know anything about Pics Disease, but it sounds like many of the same things that happen with Alzheimers patients was happening with you uncle...
Constant walking is also very common in those with Alzheimers...in fact, in most nursing homes, which have locked down Alzheimers Units, the Alzheimers patients are allowed to be up and about 24hrs a day...unlike the other residents, ,who are usually put into bed by around 8pm or so....the other residents stay in bed, but Alzheimers patients rarely do, unless they are already bed bound because of contractures, or unabilty to walk at all...
But the Alzheimers patients just love to walk up and down the halls, and are constantly in motion...and often we would at least try puttin them to bed, on the off chance that they would sleep for a little while...sometimes they did, sometimes they did not...
Often they would get up, walk for a while, other Alzheimer patients would be walking up and down...when they got tired, they would just grab the closest bed, which was almost never their own bed...and they would promptly fall asleep in someone elses bed...
On graveyard shift, we would seldom move them back to their own bed...once they were asleep, we would want them to continue sleeping for as long as possible, so we just left them...I am sure some of their families would be angry to know that their family member would be sleeping half the night away in a bed not their own...but we had to decide what was best for the patient...sometimes the best thing to do, was to let them get some sleep in whatever bed they happened to land end...
That Alzheimer and related dementias are really difficult syndromes to manage, and its no wonder, that often families have a hard time coping with this sort of behavior....it can be very draining...
To: habs4ever
Is your Uncle still alive? I will have to study up about that Pics Disease....as I had never heard about it before...
Families who care for their own, with Alzheimers and other related dementias, often do so at great cost to their emotions, and their pocketbook...
It can be so very difficult and frustrating, to see a love one go this route...
Bless your Uncle, and his family who care for him...it was hard for him and hard for them, I am sure, and bless them all for that struggle...
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