Ch. 75 Pat and I Watch a Movie whose Main Character has Dementia
January 2021
Pat and I just finished watching and discussing the movie Elizabeth is Missing, starring
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Ch. 71 Pat Forgets but then She Remembers
November 2020. (Note that we first covered this topic in Ch.62: Short- and Long-Term Memory Loss, that was written in April, 2020.)
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Ch.69 I’m Grateful We Can Still Disagree
November 2020
I stumbled into a difficult situation a few days ago. It concerned a man I’ll call Sidney, a
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Ch.67 “This is My House”
October, 2020
Pat makes this remark and then points out several items on our fireplace mantle that are familiar: two paint by
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Ch.64 Exhaustion and Relief
August 2020
These last few weeks have been physically and psychologically exhausting for me as Pat has endured the symptoms of bullous pemphigoid,
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Ch.61 Pat has a Second Syncope Episode – but Doesn’t Remember It.
June, 2020.
It’s 8 a.m. and Pat has risen to start the day. I hear her exiting the bedroom,
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Ch.60 Pat Tells Us about A Major Decision
Our family has begun weekly zoom sessions to lessen the isolation associated with Covid-19 safety precautions. This
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Ch.59 Ron Becomes Anxious and Irritable
Summer, 2020
Lately I’ve been anxious and irritable. I’ll talk about my irritability later in this essay, but for now let
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Ch. 58 Care Partner Goals: Safety, Pleasure, Joy
Neuroscientists write that the best thing we can do for a newborn child is to offer that child
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Ch.57 One Year Anniversary of Ron’s Heart Stent Operation
Today is May 23, 2020, exactly one year after I received my unexpected heart stent operation.
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Ch.56 Short- and Long-Term Memory Loss
April 2020
I asked Pat what she thought of the movie we’d seen together the day before. “What movie?” she
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Ch.55 Working Together
March 2020
I’m getting our blog ready to publish as a book. It’s complicated. Today I need to do something a little tricky: is
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Ch.56 Short- and Long-Term Memory Loss
April 2020
I asked Pat what she thought of the movie we’d seen together the day before. “What movie?” she
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Ch. 50 Ron Joins the Stand in the Light Memory Choir
January, 2020.
We’ve written before about how living with Lewy Body has provided opportunities for new
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Ch. 48 Our Two Truths Are Like Oil and Water
Round One: Pat tells me that last night she was surrounded by several people who accused her of doing bad
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Ch. 41: What Ron Doesn’t Understand About Me.
[This chapter is initiated by Pat with a response from Ron]
Because I can’t drive I’ve lost the
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Ch.39. “The Apocalypse Arrived and Yet it was Not Apocalyptic.”
This quote comes from the novel Exit West, by Moshin Hamid. The author writes about
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Ch.38. What was Supposed to Bring Pride Brings Shame Instead.
Pat belongs to the Stand in the Light memory choir, as explained in chapter 40.
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Ch.36. Pat Joins a Memory Choir.
August 2019. Several months ago, Pat and I attended a memory care conference in Eau Claire. We walked through
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Ch.34. Pat Realizes She’s been Hallucinating.
(Originally written Autumn, 2019. Added Update at End of Essay.)
“Ron, I want the truth. Was anyone here in the
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Ch.32. Today’s Surprise: Ron gets a Heart Stent.
May 23, 2019. About one month ago I noticed I was having breathing problems while exercising. They didn’t go away,
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Ch.31. “I Know You are my Husband because You are Wearing the Same Shirt.”
Awkward moment. Pat says: “I don’t think I’ve been hallucinating much,
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Ch. 29. We are “Care Partners.”
Pat and I recently attended a local conference for professionals treating dementia patients. People there were using the term “care partners”
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Ch.28. Blackcap Pie, Memory Loss and Confusion.
We had company yesterday morning at breakfast. I made waffles. Then the four of us took a ride
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Ch.26. Caregiver Meltdown.
I am writing this piece almost exactly 24 hours after I had a gigantic, ugly, scary meltdown. Things hadn’t been going well
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Ch.22. Sudden Mood Changes.
When Pat was first diagnosed with Lewy Body I asked several people this question: What is the hallmark of Lewy Body?
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Ch.20: Acceptance: Yes; Passivity: No
Pat and I recently attended the Meeting of the Minds dementia conference in St. Paul, MN. There were about 1,000
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Ch.17. Slightly Unusual Behaviors (SUBs).
Pat has never been a model of conventionality. In fact, she’s sometimes decidedly unconventional. For example, for years
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Ch.16. Depression and Lewy Body.
It’s February, 2019 in Wisconsin as I write this piece. There’s at least a foot of snow on the ground everywhere
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Ch.15 First Pat and then Ron Join a Memory Choir
First Pat Joins a Memory Choir.
August 2019. Several months ago, Pat and I attended a memory care
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Ch.14. Waking Dreams, RBD, and Sleep Deprivation.
Recently I awoke around 1 a.m. feeling chilly. Oddly, the blankets had disappeared. I heard noises from Pat’s
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When I was young, I had difficulty learning how to tie shoelaces. Years later someone told me it takes 32 separate physical actions to tie those laces. No wonder it
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Ch. 9 Questions for the New Year: 2019 and then 2020
Note: This essay was originally written in early 2019, then updated at the end of the year.
2019
A new year has just
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Ch.9. Physical Intimacy: Hugs and More.
My friends and family have been a wonderful support for me during these Lewy Body days. Recently I was
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Ch.7. Who Should I Tell that I’ve Got Lewy Body? Acceptance, Embarrassment, Shame and Trust.
Do you think this is an easy question to answer?
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Ch.4. Good Days.
Coping with LB has made me (and Pat, I’m sure) more appreciative of the natural beauty in our Western Wisconsin homestead. Almost every day lately we’ve driven through
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The Dialogue.
Pat Potter-Efron was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia in April, 2018. Since October, 2018 we have been keeping a shared journal that we call the Lewy
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