My husband’s concept of where he is in relation to the world around has changed over the years. This is called a visuoperceptual deficit and is fairly common with Parkinson’s Disease. What I recently realized is that his perception of his own body has changed too. Nerve endings don’t seem to be connected to neural networks in his brain anymore. That means he doesn’t realize there’s something stuck to his fingers or face, his skin has become a stranger to him. Even when I try to clue him in he still doesn’t feel anything, but will try to clean it up. It’s a challenge he faces that I never considered before.

This is concerning because he doesn’t seem to relate to minor injuries either. He often has bruises or scratches and has no idea where they came from. Unless they are actively bleeding they don’t seem to bother him. I have to think they must hurt, but pain signals get lost on their way to receptors in his brain. Or perhaps the feelings get lost in interpretation or are too difficult to express. I’m worried this could lead to something more serious but am not sure how to address it other than calling it out whenever I can.

This is a man who has always paid close attention to how he looks. Now I find myself reminding him to wash his hands or helping him clean his nails. He seems to be more in a cerebral existence, caught up in his head rather than relating to the external world. So, I will be his monitor and do what I can to help him remember to take care of those things that have to be done to stay healthy. Our “normal” has changed again.