Choosing Your Attitude, Part 3

This is the third in a four part series, Choosing Your Attitude for the Journey, by our friend, Pat Snyder, author of Treasure in the Darkness. The first week's blog was about being positive and being proactive. If you want to learn more about being positive, a multi-series blog on the subject will start in May. Last week's blog was about being perceptive. This week, it is about being persistent. Any gradually degenerating disease requires staying power. And if the disease is LBD, you need even more persistence as you deal with people who may know less about LBD than you do.

Be persistent.

Being an dementia caregiver is a long-term commitment. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

The term Lewy roller coaster for LBD folks has been coined to describe the experience due to the ups and downs in cognitive, physical, behavioral, sleep, and psychological symptoms. Your choice to be positive, proactive, and perceptive must be of a continuing, ongoing nature. You need to persist through these fluctuations as your Loved One progressively declines. It is a daily choice.

As new symptoms emerge over time, you will need to learn more and stay up to date about research and treatments that could be helpful. As your care continues, you will monitor disease symptoms daily. At times, you may question the efficacy of an intervention. Is the intervention working, or is this symptom simply a manifestation of the fluctuations of the disease? This is a typical question for you to ask in your role as care partner. Sometimes you will use your intuition correctly and change course. Other times you may not discover the answer. That is also typical, so do not blame yourself at these times.

You will also monitor those who are involved in your Loved One’s treatment and support. Part of your role is to teach any new person on the health care team about your Loved One’s expression of dementia. You may also need to teach them how to best approach the situations that arise in his care. You will deal with significant family members and friends who encounter him. All these things involve a consistent approach on your part. If your Loved One moves into a nursing home or similar facility, your role as advocate and educator will escalate.

Your steadfast persistence will pay off in a gentler LBD journey for everyone. This is one of those places in life where you clearly will make a difference. It is not easy, but it is doable -- and it is worth it.

Next week, Pat will talk about personifying the disease.

Helen and James Whitworth are not doctors, lawyers or social workers, nor is Pat Snyder. As informed caregivers, they share the information here for educational purposes only. It should never be used instead of a professional's advice.

We love and welcome comments but we will not publish any that advertise a product or a commercial website. This is especially true for testimonials about miraculous Parkinson's cures and marijuana.

* Acronyms:

 AD: Alzheimer's disease

BPSD: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia

DLB: Dementia with Lewy bodies, where cognitive/behavioral issues occur first

LBD: Lewy body dementia, an umbrella term for both DLB and PDD

MCI: Mild cognitive impairment

MCI-LB: the form of MCI that precedes LBD

PD: Parkinson's disease

PDD: Parkinson's disease with dementia, where mobility issues occur first

PlwD: person/people living with dementia

PlwPD, LBD, PDD, AD, etc.: person/people living with PD, LBD, etc.

For more information about Lewy body disorders, read our books:
A Caregivers’ Guide to Lewy Body Dementia
Managing Cognitive Issues in Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia