Ch.82 Why Is It So Hard for Pat to Make Choices?
March, 2021
Gee, I thought, we seem to be watching an awful lot of television today. What else could we do? One good possibility seemed to be drawing with colored pencils, an activity we’ve enjoyed in the past. We own many “adult” coloring books with interesting and challenging pictures just waiting to be selected. Pat agreed that it would be fun to color together. Excited, I rushed to the cupboard to gather supplies. That’s when I made a big mistake. I Loaded up five coloring books and three packs of pencils. “OK, hon,” I said, “just pick a picture and we can get started.” Twenty minutes later Pat was still looking through the books. She couldn’t decide which picture to draw. Pat became discouraged and began looking tired, as if the very act of trying to choose was exhausting her. So, instead of drawing Pat took a nap.
Since Pat developed Lewy Body this diminished ability to decide has become quite noticeable. Frequently she responds to what seem to me to be simple choices (“Which show do you want to watch?” “Would you like hamburgers or pizza for supper?” “Where would you like us to drive today?”) with “I don’t know.” I’m not attributing this behavior entirely to Lewy Body, though. Pat has always been slow to make choices; for instance, when we order food at a drive-through restaurant she wants to study all the possibilities and then decide, and she seldom knows in advance what she wants to order. But Pat’s indecisiveness has definitely increased with Lewy Body. There is a significant difference between her previous “Give me time to decide” and the current “I can’t decide” or “I don’t know.”
I do worry about this trend. Making choices is a big part of being human. And most choices we make are small ones, just like the examples above. I don’t like the way Lewy Body appears to be diminishing Pat’s choice-making ability.
Pat’s Comments on Why Is It So Hard for Pat to Make Choices?
My first comment is because I have Lewy Body and I may be less decisive, what does that mean? It might be changing how I make choices but diminishing my ability to make choices may not be the best way to express it. Just give me time to decide. Take it slow.
I don’t think Ron is right. I don’t think it’s harder for me to make decisions than it used to be.