This blog should be called "Adventures Through Alzheimer's."  And what an adventure it is!  We were getting ready for a trip to Chattanooga, TN to be with the grandkids there for Spring Break.  I asked the primary physician for a medication to make him a bit calmer for while we were on the trip. She said no, she would like to wait for his annual physical the end of April to see him first.  But then I got a call from Walgreen's that a prescription was ready.  I couldn't imagine what it was, but bless her heart, she had called in a prescription for resperidone 0.5 mg.  He started taking it right away, but it was time to leave on the trip.  On Easter weekend our son Ron met us in Gatlinburg and we were going to take the kids to Dollywood, a theme park named after Dolly Parton, of course!  I hesitate to say this next part, as I know you will say we shouldn't have left Bob alone in the hotel room.  But he would certainly prefer that to trooping around Dollywood!  And we have always done that, and he is content to stay in the hotel room and watch TV, and we had a room with a balcony overlooking the river.  It was a beautiful day, but when we got back to the room that afternoon, he was gone, and so was a suitcase on wheels....We all jumped in the car, and took off.  The kids were asking how we were going to find him, and I said,"We are going to put this thing to the test."  In a previous post I mentioned that I had gotten him a GPS to keep in his pocket (which he faithfully does) and an app on my phone tells where he is.  It worked well, even showed that he was moving (walking).  But the traffic in Gatlinburg if you don't know, is horrendous.  Branson has figured it out with alternate routes, but not Gatlinburg!  So we were just stuck in traffic, not able to even move.  So Ron said he would run to where he was, about a mile away.  14 year old grandson Nate was of course fascinated by this technology, and kept in touch with his dad with his phone, so he could give him updates where he had moved.  At one point he was in front of the aquarium, with hordes of people around it!  But Ron finally caught up to him in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant and kept him in sight until we could get there in the car, just inching along!  He was still pulling the suitcase which he had packed with things from the hotel.  Needless to say, we were glad to see him and he was glad to see us!  So that is the last time we can leave him in a hotel room!  But he tried to do the same thing a couple of days later when we were back in Chattanooga, and I was in the house.  Also he kept pushing the panic button on the GPS, so I finally put tape over the button to hide it.  I am sure the people that monitor it were quite tired of us, as they always answer so promptly, and I had to keep assuring them that he was all right.
I guess the medication takes awhile to work, as by the time we got home, he was much calmer.  And he has stopped the incessant talking that he was doing.  He could talk for hours without seemingly taking a breath.  For those of you who have witnessed this phenominum,  I am sorry, but there is no stopping him once he gets going.  A girlfriend came over to visit me one day and watch me work on a project, and he talked to her for 3 solid hours.  When I tried to get a word in edgewise, he got mad and told me I was interrupting him!  The next time, the friend and I met for lunch!  I was worried he would try to leave after we got home again, but so far he has not.  I think he is worn out!  And like I say, it is more peaceful in the house and I can collect my thoughts without him talking nonstop.  Before, I was just trying to tune him out.  Hopefully the medication will help for awhile.
Until fairly recently every time I went somewhere and turned on the car radio, Kelly Clarkson's song "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" came on.  I was beginning to think it was a personal message meant for just me!  So I have been listening to the 50s channel on Sirius.  The other day the song "Flying purple people eater" came on.  I had forgotten all about that one!  I am not sure it is better than "Stronger"!
Last week, we saw a friend in church we hadn't seen for awhile.  We had braved the wilds of Africa on a mission trip together, and he and Bob just hit it off right away.  (I already knew him as he was a nurse at the hospital.)  He didn't know what had happened with Bob and he asked Bob how he was doing.  Bob told him he didn't have a brain anymore.  That really surprised me, as that was the first time I have ever heard Bob admit his condition to anyone!  You should be honored Pete!  Then he went on to say that it was OK though, as when he got to heaven, God was going to give him a new brain.  A moment of being completely lucid!
Oh, I long for that day!
In the meantime, other adventures await, hopefully not as dramatic!
Betty