This is my first post. Dad's diagnosis of AZ and Vascular Dementia was made back in March (he's 87). To date he's coping pretty well - the short term memory is awful, but he will happily talk about older memories. Dad can still do a lot of things for himself.
But in the last few weeks, there've been instances when he's been confused about how long he's been in his home. He's lived in it for 14 years, but now seems to think he only moved in recently. But then, other times, he 's pretty much on the ball.
Today though something happened which really threw me and I'd be really grateful for any insights those of you who are further down the road, can offer.
We'd had an active morning, sorting his clothes into something more manageable. Dad was part of it, deciding which ones to go on the hanging rail so that he can access them easily. But then early afternoon, we went for a walk in a nearby park. His choice and he directed me on how to drive there. But, after a few minutes as we walked, he turned to me and said something along the lines of 'so what's the arrangement now? Am I in some kind of residential facility?' to which I tried to reassure him he was still living in his home of 14 years . And then the bit that really threw me, was he then said: "well, who are you?" I almost thought he was pulling my leg as I replied with my name " I'm xxxxx, I'm your daughter' And he denied it and said something like 'no,no - you're not xxxx'
Inside I just wanted to run away, but tried to remain calm, spoke to him a bit about my sisters - anything to try and get him some kind of reference point. And then he just moved on and talked to me about the park. He wasn't upset or angry at all, and I'm not sure at what point he 'came back' - but we've been together all evening and he certainly had me back as his daughter again within a short time of arriving home.
This is the first time he hasn't known me. It's not like I just turned up - I've been with him since Sunday!
But since it happened I've been wracking my brain trying to work out what triggered it. Was it because I hurried him out of the house after lunch, so we'd get to walk before the sun went down? Was the blood supply to his brain less because it was cold outside? I just find it weird that it seemed to come from nowhere and then dissipate again, not long after.
There's some suspicion of a UTI at the moment (sample went off today), so maybe that was the cause - but if so, why only for such a short time? (Thankfully)
His GP is coming round tomorrow so I'll definitely ask her more about this - but is this drifting in and out of confusion over such a short time frame, typical of the illness?
But in the last few weeks, there've been instances when he's been confused about how long he's been in his home. He's lived in it for 14 years, but now seems to think he only moved in recently. But then, other times, he 's pretty much on the ball.
Today though something happened which really threw me and I'd be really grateful for any insights those of you who are further down the road, can offer.
We'd had an active morning, sorting his clothes into something more manageable. Dad was part of it, deciding which ones to go on the hanging rail so that he can access them easily. But then early afternoon, we went for a walk in a nearby park. His choice and he directed me on how to drive there. But, after a few minutes as we walked, he turned to me and said something along the lines of 'so what's the arrangement now? Am I in some kind of residential facility?' to which I tried to reassure him he was still living in his home of 14 years . And then the bit that really threw me, was he then said: "well, who are you?" I almost thought he was pulling my leg as I replied with my name " I'm xxxxx, I'm your daughter' And he denied it and said something like 'no,no - you're not xxxx'
Inside I just wanted to run away, but tried to remain calm, spoke to him a bit about my sisters - anything to try and get him some kind of reference point. And then he just moved on and talked to me about the park. He wasn't upset or angry at all, and I'm not sure at what point he 'came back' - but we've been together all evening and he certainly had me back as his daughter again within a short time of arriving home.
This is the first time he hasn't known me. It's not like I just turned up - I've been with him since Sunday!
But since it happened I've been wracking my brain trying to work out what triggered it. Was it because I hurried him out of the house after lunch, so we'd get to walk before the sun went down? Was the blood supply to his brain less because it was cold outside? I just find it weird that it seemed to come from nowhere and then dissipate again, not long after.
There's some suspicion of a UTI at the moment (sample went off today), so maybe that was the cause - but if so, why only for such a short time? (Thankfully)
His GP is coming round tomorrow so I'll definitely ask her more about this - but is this drifting in and out of confusion over such a short time frame, typical of the illness?