Thursday, December 18, 2008

Confusion

I don’t know if I can wait until Dad’s siblings arrive to make a decision on what to do with Dad.  He called me last night insisting I come to his house today.  I told him I have to work, but I’ll be down Saturday.  “You have to work on Christmas?”  he asked belligerently.  “Dad, Christmas isn’t until next week.  Tomorrow is December 18.”  Dad got really quiet for a minute, then said he couldn’t keep track of what day it was anymore.  If Dad has lost a week, how well is he keeping track of his medications?  He’s got about 15 different types of medication he takes a day.  I noticed his motor skills have gotten so bad he can barely get up and down off the couch anymore.  It takes him several tries to get up.  He even had an incident where he peed on himself a little bit because he couldn’t get up off the couch in time to make it to the bathroom last time I was down there.  When I go down this weekend, I’m going to inform him that there’s no way he can live by himself anymore, and we need to make some arrangements – NOW.  Then, when his siblings come down next month, we’ll make decisions about where he’ll go. 

2 comments:

Strangeite said...

I am sorry to hear that. I hope you can find a temporary solution until the rest of the family shows up.

Becca said...

Based on what we went through, I'd recommend hospice care. I did a Google search and saw there are several places in San Antonio. Call them and make an appointment to talk to a counselor. Most operate as non-profit, depending on charitable donations, so you can get care for your Dad in home without any cost to you. They might not provide around the clock care, but enough to help.

Our experience with hospice care was very good--our only regret was not calling them sooner.

Call. Today.