My Alzheimer Diary - 16, 26 & 31 October 2016
17th Entry - 16th Oct. 2016 Apologies for the interruption in writing my diary. Have had a bunch of other things to do, e.g. swimming, shopping, answering emails, collecting dry cleaning.
Now I have both Alzheimer’s and Epilepsy I have begun to understand why people fear them, particularly those who have first-hand experience of either or both. My limited experience suggest that Alzheimer’s & loss of memory is the most feared.
18th Entry- 26th Oct. 2016 To say that my memory is “unreliable” is a mastery of understatement! I can remember some things that I have done for years and years, for example, making a cup of tea. I am almost on autopilot. And although I can still do the basics on a laptop (I am writing this on my laptop) I can’t remember all that Rachel shows me! I guess that this is only to be expected as I get older.
For me, far more interesting is the outcome of watching serials on TV. I remember that I have seen an episode before when I certainly haven’t! If anyone knows why this is I would be most interested to know. My background as a clergyman suggests that it is an example of what Folliot S. Pierpont wrote in the hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth” in 1864:
“the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight”.
When my eyes see something on the TV screen the information is interpreted by my mind so that I see it, and then when my mind has recorded it I remember it because I have seen it only a split second before.
Am I correct?
19th Entry - 31 Oct. 2016 I am finding it increasingly difficult to remember what i have been doing since my last diary entry when/if I remember to make an entry at all! In fact I find it difficult to remember almost almost anything when I want to. Difficult but not impossible. Eventually it sometimes comes back to me. Sadly nothing to do with how important the memory may be. It’s easier for me to “remember” things by accident when I don’t need to or when it doesn’t really matter!
Fortunately I haven’t lost a wish to be “surrounded” by things that I can see and that I consider beautiful.
Nothing necessarily rare or exotic, but pleasing to my eye. For example my lovely wife Rachel has designed and created a beautiful curtain/patchwork we can see from our bed. I help creating a honey-bee! And a rack of clothes is covered by an elegant Indian throw which we purchased when we visited India on holiday. On my desk is a transparent plastic box with approximately 50 pens of all sort standing up in it. They are holding each other up. Their various colours and designs and the fact that they are all ready for use useful makes them particularly memorable. We also have several small clocks and watches which no longer function and that I am planning to have repaired.
Thanks for reading!
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