Todd, Sheryl and Mike have all experienced Dad's extreme irrational behavior the past few days, (threats to buy a new car, moving to Texas etc.) possibly brought on by Gary's passing. Den and I called Uncle Grant this morning and asked him if it was true that he wanted Dad to move in with him and he said no! He told Dad he could come visit, but he couldn't be responsible for caring for him. He said, there is no way he should be driving and he also said he was going to call him and tell him he thinks it's time for him to live in an Assisted Living situation. Grant told him that when he was here, but Dad told him he couldn't afford it. We all know he can. I'm concerned that he is going to get someone else to take him car shopping. I think the prices of the cars will give him sticker shock, but the point is, he doesn't have the eye sight or the mental sharpness to be driving. He even yelled at Grant and told him he was going the wrong way on the way to the cemetery.
I spoke with Dr. Lym yesterday. He told me we need to understand that our Dad, as we know him, is already gone. We are dealing with the disease and it's only going to get worse. Agreeing with Dad on everything he says is usually the best way to keep him calm. However, the car thing is a concern. The moving situation in not even a possibility. Dad won't pay for the moving costs or pack himself. Plus, I don't think he could sell his condo right now, unless he gave it away, which is highly unlikely.
Why don't we all look into Assisted Living Pricing and we will compare in a week or so.
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Sounds good. Sheryl and I visited Dad Monday night and took him to IHOP. He is still talking about buying a new car. I tried to express my concerns about that. He argued his track record driving and I told him that I hav no concerns about Harold Stout driving from age 10-80; but I would have concerns with 1-9 year old or 80+ year old Harold driving for similar reasons. More later, I'm off to meet with Travis at Franklin Covey regarding work stuff.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I seem to think that 10-year-olds can drive legally because of my own dimentia.
I just talked to a friend of mine who had a similar situation with her mother, except her mother got sweeter and sweeter. However, she said we should have dad legally declared incompetent and then he can't make anymore purchases and we can decide when it's time to take him to an assisted living facility. She thought just the story of the rifle and the bullets in his car should be enough.
ReplyDeleteRIFLE???
ReplyDelete