Let's Talk Dating
You might want to sit down for this discussion. I know I am.
People with Alzheimer's date. They appear to fall in love again. They at least try to form new connections that bring them comfort. They might even have sexual relations. It must be exciting to be in the first blush of a new relationship again.
When you think of intimacy and Alzheimer's, you really only consider individuals who are geriatric; not someone who is not yet menopausal. When you have early on-set Alzheimer's, the patient may still be young enough to potentially get pregnant.
No, Lyn's not pregnant. However, she announced last week that she has a new boyfriend and she does. She's known him for several years because they used to attend the same weekly social event. His care provider and her respite provider are friends as well. They arranged for the two to spend some time at a local bar singing karaoke last week.
So... what does this mean? It means that Lyn is getting direct, one-on-one attention from a man. She always delights in that and loves flirting. That makes her happy. Happy is good. Boundaries are also good. She's not so good at boundaries anymore. This puts an even bigger responsibility on her respite provider to provide proper supervision when Lyn is with her boyfriend.
People with Alzheimer's date. They appear to fall in love again. They at least try to form new connections that bring them comfort. They might even have sexual relations. It must be exciting to be in the first blush of a new relationship again.
When you think of intimacy and Alzheimer's, you really only consider individuals who are geriatric; not someone who is not yet menopausal. When you have early on-set Alzheimer's, the patient may still be young enough to potentially get pregnant.
No, Lyn's not pregnant. However, she announced last week that she has a new boyfriend and she does. She's known him for several years because they used to attend the same weekly social event. His care provider and her respite provider are friends as well. They arranged for the two to spend some time at a local bar singing karaoke last week.
So... what does this mean? It means that Lyn is getting direct, one-on-one attention from a man. She always delights in that and loves flirting. That makes her happy. Happy is good. Boundaries are also good. She's not so good at boundaries anymore. This puts an even bigger responsibility on her respite provider to provide proper supervision when Lyn is with her boyfriend.
That's great! I'm glad you have a respite provider you can trust.
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