Below is a link to a NYT article on people trying to live with Alzheimer’s. The observations in the article line up with my own. If you read the article you will see there is one man profiled who still retains his short term memory but is losing his motor skill rapidly. Then there is a lady who retains her motor skills better but has completely lost her short term memory. Grandpa isn’t so much to one extreme or the other, but those cases reflect how Alzheimer’s progresses differently for every individual.
I would say Grandpa has lost probably short term memory and motor skills in equal measure. He hasn’t lost either entirely, but both are getting progressively worse.
Here is the link: NYT Article on Alzheimer’s
Note: This material originally appeared in a blog I wrote while caring for my grandfather as he journeyed through dementia. It ran 2006-2009 and ended at the time of his death. This blog was the incipient material for a book, “The Sea is Wide: A Memoir of Caregiving.” If you have appreciated this writing, please consider purchasing the book and sharing it with others.