For me, it was odd (and I was a little sad actually) to be showering on my own again. It is, however, another small step forward in his recovery.
Later, he was speaking to his mum on the phone again. He's great with her, rarely shows any impatience. She phones every day, and the dementia has been noticeably worse recently. Right now she's in the nmiddle of a particularly severe 'bout' (is bout the right word?).
She didn't know what day it was, so DH asked her to look at the clock on the wall. She has a clock with a large display which shows time, day and date. She told him what it said. A few minutes later, she told him she didn't know what day it was.
She then asked him how to work the pencils. This was (I presume) the parcel of pencils I sent her some weeks ago, which she said she didn't get. I'd chosen 'propelling' pencils, ones which had one single, long, lead in. This means she wouldn't have to worry about sharpeners, and she wouldn't have to worry about refilling the pencil once the lead was used up.
When asked, she said she hadn't got the parcel (which was delivered yesterday) which contained ordinary pencils. I guess it's possible that the Home hasn't given her her parcel yet. Or it's equally possible that it's actually the ordinary pencils she is looking at, and she is getting confused.
She also complained bitterly that her daughter hadn't phoned. DH explained that SIL was away working, and MIL got very angry/upset, saying that she could phone. It's entirely possible that SIL has phoned. Last week, DMIL said that SIL hadn't visited for ages, even though we knew she'd actually visited that afternoon!
It's such a cruel disease, it's turning my lovely MIL into something she isn't.
I noticed that didn't use my SIL's name, and I suspect that she's temporarily forgotten it. I haven't noticed her doing that before.
Yesterday, she was a little upset. She thought she had knocked down a wall of her room, but the wall is still there. She said she probably dreamt it (but she only knew it was a dream bercuse the wall was still there).
This is probably the worst time for her. The disease hasn't taken her completely, and she knows that things aren't quite right.
Although it will be horrible for us, it will be better for her when the disease has taken her completely and she can be blissfully ignorant of her state of mind.
