Leonardo.
I got a buncha painting to do over at dad-in-law's over the next couple days but I'll be back in the early afternoons. We're setting up a new room for the overnight aide so he can keep a closer eye on the old man. Lately, when he's having a bad night, he thinks he's somewhere else and tries to "get home". He weasels himself out of bed (I put bed rails up to make it harder but he scoots out the foot of the bed) and starts packing a suitcase.
I tell ya something. After seeing a once intelligent man go down hill like this (he worked in the NYC Comptroller's Office yet now he can't do simple math), I hope, if I am unfortunate enough to get Alzheimer's, somebody leaves a loaded pistol somewhere within my reach. It's a horrible disease.
Later ...
4 comments:
It's a sad situation, no doubt about it. Fellow I knew, his mom had it. He said you just laugh at the crazy shit she would do. That was his coping mechanism. At least your father-in-law can stay in his home and has people who care nearby.
My dad had it. I agree that it is terrible to watch someone slip away.
just laugh at the crazy shit
I guess that's a coping mechanism, but I think I would find it hard to laugh at watching someone close to me dying.
Gord - Sometimes, if you don't laugh, you cry. Like when you get the phone call at 10 pm and the old man asks "what happened to the sun?" because he thinks it's 10 am. The other day he called for bail money and an attorney because he thought he was in jail (he's never been arrested in his life). If you allow yourself to always see the sadness in these things, you'd be crying all the time.
Froggy - That's what we wanted for him. The original idea was to move him in with us, but he was better then. We realized we couldn't do it as he slipped further and further into the disease. Thank god we have the resources to keep him at home until the end - whenever that may be; his doctors say he's quite healthy otherwise.
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