Senility, Hearing Impairment, Stubborn Old Men

[Spiky Bugger]

At about 4:37 pm, I looked at the clock and asked MrSue, “Is MiniSue still here? If she left, I missed it.” He left, spent time outside talking to her. I waved through the sliding door. Half an hour later, he came back inside.


Him: We discussed several things, and I guess you were confused. The Tuesday after her Monday off is not the day she leaves early.
Me: Huh?
Him: Well, you asked if she was still here but she was because it’s not the day she gets off early.
Me: I asked that question several minutes AFTER 4:30, the regular end-of-her-business day.
Him: But she gets off early one day, every...
Me, interrupting: Honey, this whole Early Off Day thing took place inside your head. I asked if she had already left because I didn’t say good-bye. That’s all.

He’s convinced that I was confused and he’s just fine. Day after day, we carry on like this. He REALLY does not hear every word. So his brain digs through the sandpile of similar word/topics/passing thoughts, it adds in a few of those because they “look” like they fit and suddenly, I am on the wrong side of a debate I haven’t even entered, but which he ABSOLUTELY “RECALLS” word for word.

On the academic side, I “know” that he truly believes that what his brain substituted for the actual conversation is as real to him as what I recall is real to me.

I’m not at all surprised that hearing impairment and dementia often run in the same crowd.

I need a drink.

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

Ohhhh, you’ve been spying on Bill and I again, haven’t you? .

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Ohhhh, you’ve been spying on Bill and I again, haven’t you? .

Maybe.

I like rum. Sweet rum drinks. In my youth, I was a “double Jack Daniels, water back” kinda woman. But now, sweet rum drinks.

UNFORTUNATELY alcohol is contraindicated with several of the medications I take.

Maybe we just need to videotape every conversation.

But he makes me WANT a drink.

 

[DianaCox]

Charles does the same thing. But with a twist of accusing me of attempting to gaslight him when I question his recollection.

GRUMPY old men.

 

[southernlady]

Yeah, my Charles is also a member.

 

[k9ophile]

 

[JackieOnLine]

both dementia and hearing loss are hard on them and maybe even harder on family. I don't blame you for wanting a drink!

 

[hilary1617]

I understand as my Dad has dementia, is hearing impaired and refuses to wear his hearing aids. The filling-in-the-blanks-with-imagined-words-that-become-his-reality is real. For my Dad, we are using captioning to aid conversations as his reading is not impaired. We're all at a point where we don't correct the (false)
memory, we just change the topic...

 

[DianaCox]