Clean and Dressed to Impress

Today I took my dad with me to take Ellie Belle to the vet. She has a nasty lick granuloma on her right paw and we've been treating it for about 2 months now. On the way there I got a nice whiff of my pops and he smelled a bit sour. I've gotten used to it in my time here and have accepted it as part of the progression of the disease.
Last week I went to visit my childhood friend who just had a new baby. Upon arrival I saw her aunt who I had known since I was 11 or 12. She gave me a big hug and I again got that nice whiff of stinky-ness. My friend could not understand why her aunt didn't shower for days in a row and why she didn't change her clothes. After only ten minutes of spending some time with her aunt I diagnosed her with dementia, likely Alzheimer's. "Really Erica? Is that what she has?". Yes, of course, how could you not know? She's been like this for years and no one has diagnosed her. Has she gone to the doctor? Have you taken her? No and no. This is a sad reality of many people with Alzheimer's. Family members simply chalk it up to laziness, depression or just them being a 'crazy, old...' (insert family member here). That's for another blog though.
There are a couple a hygiene/clothing issues that you have to look forward to when you care for someone with Alzheimer's. One is the lack of showering and the other is inappropriate dress. The aversion to showering can have multiple etiologies. Some people think that deep water may be frightening or shower heads are too enveloping. For my daddy-o I think it stems from being by himself and fear of my mother leaving while he's in the shower. When we finally get him to take a shower, we've never seen a quicker bath. In and out within minutes and complete with mediocre cleanliness. Hence the sour smell every once in a while.
The other concern is the how they dress for the outside world. My crazy dad has always had impeccable style and continues to dress quite snazzily. Unfortunately, he does dress in t-shirts when it's 30 degrees outside and in sweats when it's a 100. With Alzheimer's we have a constant cognitive battle going on. When they wake up and get ready to dress, it's a huge venture. Often times they get confused with the options and locations of underwear, socks, shoes, shirts, etc. My dad opens and closes the dresser about 30 times before he's done getting completely dressed.
Make it easy for them. Encourage them to shower with love and accompany them into the bathroom if it makes it easier. Keep it simple. That's the motto with these folks.
Here are some links from the Alzheimer's Society to help you with your future washing and dressing endeavors.

http://alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=155

http://alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=142