Sunday, October 13, 2013

In The Beginning-1

About 18 months ago when Bob was first diagnosed and given his first med he was angry. This was a man who would barely take an Advil, even if he was in pain. The first med was a nightly dose of Aricept. I used to dread bed time because it meant both of us going to bed angry or frustrated. I would set the pill next to him with a glass of water and he would angrily grab it and the glass of water. Usually splashing half the water on the floor or himself. He would take the pill and then snap at me.. There-- Is that what you wanted?- Did that make you happy? Then he would stomp off to the kitchen grumbling under his breath about "trying to poison him". No amount of reasoning could make him understand that the meds would help some.  Night after night I would have to explain the "Why's and How come's". One night after about 4 months of this nightly battle he looked at me and said- "I am NOT taking those anymore- I dont care what you say". I calmly looked him in the eye and said.. "Well then tomorrow I guess I will pack my bags and get the hell out of your way. I refuse to sit here and watch you decline knowing that you can help yourself a little and you refuse to do it. The meds have made a huge improvement weather you notice it or not. If you cant do that one simple thing so that we have a more enjoyable and easy life then-- I guess that's your choice.
He took his pill..And he has taken his meds without a battle every since. He now takes a combination of Namenda and Aricept. Once in a while he has a panic attack and he has a RX for Xanax to take when those happen.  I dont know if our Battle of the meds will never happen again but I can tell you that it has been nice to go to bed without having that nightly battle first.

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