I've just placed my dad in a home. He is the only man in the ward, and most other patients are severely impaired either physically or neurologically. Dad is ok physically, and moves around rather easily, but he is totally incontinent due to prostate cancer radiotherapy. We first started noticing signs of Alzheimer's in dad five years ago. Today Dad thinks he's got short-term memory loss, just like any other man his age (83). The fact is, he has delirious thoughts (recurring story about being harassed at work), and he wakes up quite often at night. He was living with mom until now, but mom has metastatic breast cancer and needs to rest. I feel terrible about seeing my dad shocked by his new surroundings. I'm afraid he'll fall into a depression. I sometimes wonder if we could have handled things differently, or if we put him in there too early. The people taking care of him are wonderful, but the social interaction with other patients is very limited for obvious reasons. Dad is someone who likes to talk a lot. Is it ever too early to go in a home for a patient with Alzheimer's? Will I ever be able to invite him over to have lunch with us at home again... will he be shocked to see mom go back to their old place and him go back to the home after our lunch spent together? I don't want his life to change drastically overnight, but I feel that it has.