Good times

The good mood which greeted me last Saturday continues with lots of hugs from Ash and the announcement yesterday of 'I'm lucky to have you to look after me' taking me completely by surprise.  

It really seems as though he's worked his way through his tunnel of despair and is now, after three and a half years, finally acknowledging what's happening to him.  With that acknowledgement seems to have come an acceptance that life hasn't come to an end and there are still many aspects of it to be enjoyed and that has made such a difference to both of us.  

In fact at this moment I'd say it feels as though we're back to where we were a couple of years before the diagnosis and certainly before that dreadful day when our world came crashing down around our ears.  

As I said in my last post I don't expect this level of understanding to last, not because I'm being negative but just because I'm being realistic.  The brain atrophy won't come to a halt just because Ash had a good week but I really am going to make the most of what we have now which seems to be fun, smiles, laughter, conversation and understanding on both sides.

There are so many examples I could give you to show the difference between before my week away and afterwards but the best one came last night when he looked at the weekly planning board and said 'oh, L's coming tomorrow that's good'.  When you think that usually I have to wait until 10 minutes before L arrives before I tell him so that his anxiety levels don't go through the roof you can see what an improvement that is.  Then this morning I risked reminding him before breakfast and he just smiled and said 'that'll be nice'.

I know everyone with dementia is different and everyone's circumstances are unique but I hope this experience of ours has shown that taking time out of your caring duties can benefit everyone if it's handled carefully.  

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