Wednesday Zoe and I drove down to Tacoma to visit Gerry. Gerry was transferred to Western State Hospital two weeks ago. It was a nightmare day when she was admitted. Zoe has called daily keeping track of her progress. It sounded like she was calming down and getting some better but getting reports from people who have only known here for a few days doesn't give a good sense of what is going on to those of us that have been watching Gerry's deterioration over a long period of time. To complicate Gerry's situation, they moved her to another ward on Monday and that entire ward is moving today. Not good for Alzheimer's patients. As we were let into the ward we could see Gerry. We called out to her but she didn't notice us. She was walking again, which was very good, but was stooped over. We caught up with her and hugged her. She seemed to recognize us then. It was obvious she was having back pain. We dropped off some stuff for her in her bedroom, told the nurse about her pain, and went outside to visit her in a fenced in patio. She was doing much better in some ways. She was walking again and she wasn't so amped up. But, in other ways, she was worse. In the past she would quickly recognize and greet us. Not this time. Her speech seemed more muddled. Gerry has always been one to dress well. (She and her husband used to own a clothing store in West Hartford, CT.) At HomePlace she always looked nice. She can't wear her own clothes here. She had on red sweatpants and a red sweatshirt. And the reds didn't match. Not something she would ever have worn. At one point, when Zoe was off talking to the social worker, Gerry reached down to the edge of her sweatshirt, where it was against her sweatpants and was talking about how the colors were different. Nor was she wearing her upper dentures. Gerry didn't seem to be aware of that. Gerry used to sleep with her dentures in. She used to be embarrased to be seen without them. The nursing staff didn't seem to know where they were. We sat and held her hand and showed her old family photographs that I had scanned and printed out. She seemed to recognize everyone in the pictures. It's hard to tell what behavior is because of the meds and what behavior is being caused by the Alzheimer's. However,it's clear to us that there is still part of Gerry there. It's just that the Gerry part is getting dimmer and dimmer. The good news is that the social worker thinks they can get her stabilized and we will be able to get her back close to us. The last month and a half has been a fast downhill slide for Gerry.