Hi, thank God I have somebody to talk to now I've joined this forum. My Dad has been diagnosed with dementia within the last 6 months. He's in hospital at the moment due to an infection which got out of hand. He was struggling before he went in but seems worse to us now than a month ago. Short term memory really bad. He has scored 19/30 previously at home and also in hospital 22/30 on the memory test (which confuses me, as he seems much worse now than at home). They say that he's got 'mental capacity' according to the psychiatric tests. They are planning to discharge him with a carer coming in 3 times a day. He will be coming home alone !! He has been driving up until recently but can no longer do so, so this will affect him immensly as he can't walk very well, but it is necessary obviously that he doesn't drive anymore. Problem is he's forgotten already that they have told him he cannot drive. So he will come out and wonder where the car has gone! He has been an active man, mooching around all over the place and will not wait in for carers! He will forget that they are coming anyway. Although he cannot walk very well, we believe he will try and get on the bus to god knows where and get lost. He is coming home alone as Mom was taken into temporary rehab care whilst Dad was in hospital, we don't even know if she's coming out again. Also, he's diabetic!!! Last year when he was home alone, he had a fire in the kitchen. We also believe he was taking stuff from shops without paying for them. He's not keeping himself clean and a bit incontinent I think too. My question is, how can they think that someone like this can cope on their own? Looking at previous members experiences, I know that mine must seem trivial as other people have much worse cases to cope with. I have my own business and 2 kids under 6, so I am limited to what I can do. But I feel like if he comes home, I won't get a minutes peace through all the worry. The occupational therapist seems to think it's all alright, but they have assessed him in hospital, not in his own home and I wasn't present at the assessment. He wouldn't even know how to use the microwave, what about if he forgets to lock house up, loses keys etc? Also, my Mom has depression and feels like she can't cope with him at home (she is quite poorly herself), so where we go with Mom I don't know. Another problem is I go on holiday on 3 weeks, so no support for him at home. (I can't cancel for my own sanity! - sorry if this sounds selfish). Could I ask for the hospital to put him into rehab/respite for a bit ? I'm waiting for social services to contact me re. all this. Any advice would be great - I am exhausted with all the worry.