Of late he has been spiralling downwards.
I rang just now to invite him out for coffee tomorrow.
He replied - “Do you know my address, do you know what number my place is”?
I replied “Yes, I know where you live”
He replied “How? I have never seen you here before”
I visit regularly; this is a marked deterioration of his condition. ![]()
Sorry to hear this. I have had dealings with dementia before and know how devastating it can be, not just for the person, but to those around them.
I am sorry to hear about your friend. Keeping up with those outings may change the course of conversation, but I am sure he will enjoy it even so.
I’m not sure how well I could cope with either dementia or helping a sufferer deal with it.
Physical infirmities seem so much more straightforward, though devastating in their own way they could be classed as less soul destroying, or it seems so to me.
A very sad situation for you Bretrick. My late husband suffered from Dementia for several years before his death and I was told never to correct him when he got something wrong, in either speech or action, because that increases the confusion. It is extremely distressing to cope with when you see someone deteriorate in that way but occasionally it does have its lighter side - my husband and I had some interesting conversations which made little sense at times but often ending with us both laughing!
Hi, I’m Linda, a retired nurse from the UK, and I’ve cared for several patients and friends with memory conditions over the years.
One thing I used to remind families of is that these moments aren’t a reflection of how much the person values you; it’s the illness reshaping how their memory connects. But that doesn’t make it any easier emotionally.
Your regular visits will mean far more to him than he’s able to express right now. Even when memory slips, the sense of companionship often remains.
Please take care of yourself as well — supporting someone through this can be exhausting in ways we don’t always realise.
Welcome to the forum Linda.
Each visit he seems a little more distant, but I will continue to take him out for coffee if he is able to.
Several times he was not well enough to leave the house. He has multiple issues which at times restricts his mobility.
My friend and I went out for coffee yesterday.
He was rather scatterbrained but not too bad.
5 hours later I received this text from him: because 503. Come.
Nonsensical so I rang him and he said he never texted me.
As I said, he was rather scatterbrained today.
My friend Ashley has had a bad fall and broke his hip and femur on Saturday.
Surgery was delayed until today. A 3 hour operation and he is in recovery so doped up he knows nothing.
This was his 4th hip replacement and there is no knowing how he will handle this mentally.
For the past year he has been very down and in a lot of pain with other issues.
His wife, though stoic, is starting to have health issues and has been his carer since his diagnosis in May of 2024.