Locked doors are confusing – Finding “Yoyu” [Excerpt 26]

When you are caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, locked bathroom doors can be confusing. We found an inexpensive and effective solution!

I first shared about the locked door problem back in 2016. I know it isn’t fascinating to most people, and when I try to explain, it even sounds trivial.

For me, solving the locked door problem was a HUGE triumph. It is one of my origin stories that changed how I approached Otosan for the rest of the time he stayed with us.

Now, 5 years later, it is still one of the first stories I want to share whenever people ask me about living with and caring for someone with Alzheimer’s.

Sure, the day we decided to move Otosan in with us was memorable.

So was the day he was finally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

However, the day I figured out a solution to our locked door problem, I found hope. I also found a way to fill my morning with more yoyu!

Listen to the latest excerpt above to find out what the real problem was and my inexpensive solution.

If you are interested in hearing the rest of my experience with Otosan, please subscribe. I share a new section each week.

And, if you’re new to the story, you can find the playlist here and start listening from Excerpt #1.

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About the book:

A few years ago, we moved my husband’s parents from a rural part of Japan to live with us in Tokyo in our tiny 800 square foot (73 square-meter) condo. My book, Finding “Yoyu,” is about what it took to decide to move them. It’s also about navigating the Japanese health care system and finding an appropriate nursing home for my mother-in-law while helping my father-in-law transition from a lifetime of farming to retirement in the big city. It’s about how we discovered he had Alzheimer’s and my husband had stage 3 colon cancer. It’s about how I managed to support these two men and keep (or find!) my yoyu all while going through a career change.