After many years absence I am back, it’s dad this time.

[lin1]

My 94 year old dad has had a sudden downturn yesterday, his health has been poor for a while now and for several weeks he’s had weekly visits from a very nice Gp . The h did a Di stick test on his urine , it was clear.

Dad started hallucinating yesterday, we have both been up all night , , we’ll dad did go up to bed the he had his first one up there, he saw all his bedding up on the wall, it wasn’t but it was real to him.

Doc came for his regular visit this morning and I quickly explained thing on the door step
He saw for himself a little how dad was then got himself together quickly .

Dads been talking a lot since the Gp left, sadly most of it is nonsense, but it is all very real to him .
Sometimes I am able to reassure him, that all is well, other times I am public enemy number 1
I just hope I look after him properly, I am somewhat disabled myself mobility wise now

In the past Dad was prone to TIAs , and was on Aspirin, then switched to Clopidogrel , he’s now off of them as he is now prone to sub dural haematomas, , maybe he has had another one, I don’t know .

Docs coming again on Friday , but I am to phone if dad gets worse, I hope he gets better rather than worse.

Anyway I thought I would come back here, as I know you all understand.

 

[Canadian Joanne]

Although it's nice to se eyou back @lin1 I'm sorry to hear the circumstances. What has the GP recommended for the hallucinations, if anything?

 

[lin1]

Thanks Joanne.
No he’s not recommended anything for them yet, dad put on a pretty good front while doc was here ,even said he knew when they were happening., not true

 

[Izzy]

Hi @lin1. Im so sorry to read about your dad. I’m glad you came back here to share. As you say people here understand.

Thinking of you and your dad.

 

[lin1]

Well dads been hallucinating more on than off since doc left, he’s also had two falls,
Nothing I do works for long, he seems to have boundless energy. , I am hoping will fall asleep soon,
Some things he sees makes him laugh other worry him and I had to stop him once trying to smash things with his stick, roll on tomorrow when I can get a doc out from our practice , I don’t want to call out the out of hours Gp unless I really have to.

I’ve turned the tv off, and fingers crossed dad seems to have settlec down a bit, he’s now having a nice cuppa and some biccies and just taken his night pills.

Now he’s asked me what does he want , pointing to the wall behind him.


How do you manage / cope withe these hallucinations, mum had them but nothing like dads

 

[nellbelles]

hello @Lin 1 so sorry things have deteriorated so quickly with your Dad I hope you get some answers soon

 

[lin1]

We’ve had Geckos, ants spiders, and other nasties crawling all over, he’s even had ant crawling under his skin, he wasn’t best pleased with me when I refused to get him a razor so he could cut it our , men hiding behind his chair waiting to knife him , the list goes on and on .

 

[lin1]

hello @Lin 1 so sorry things have deteriorated so quickly with your Dad I hope you get some answers soon

Thanks . I hope so too

 

[Grannie G]

Sorry to see you back @lin1

 

[lin1]

Thanks @Izzy and @Grannie G .

 

[lin1]

Dad had another fall, hit the back of his head but otherwise seemed unhurt.
No way could I help him up . I realised then that I couldn’t cope or look after him properly the way he was . So I called 111 who were very good.

The ambulance came with three staff, dad thankfully didn’t realise who they were because he has a dreadful fear of hospitals. I had to help persuade him to go.
So now he is in hospital and due to Corvid I wasn’t allowed to go with him. I hope he is ok there .
I will phone up later to find out how he is.

The ambulance staff were great with him, I can’t praise them enough.

 

[Izzy]

I’m sorry to hear that your dad is in hospital but to be honest I think it’s for the best - for him and for you. It must be even more difficult when you can’t see him due to Covid. Thinking of you both.

 

[Sarasa]

Sorry to hear your dad is in hospital @lin1, but hospital sounds the best place for him at the moment, as those hallucinations sounded very full on . Just a big pain that you couldn't go with him.
I watched the BBC series Ambulance a few weeks ago and was in awe at how good the paramedics were with the elderly people they were called out to.
Hope you have a chance to catch up on sleep and re-group while he is being cared for.

 

[Grannie G]

I`m so sorry to hear this Lin.

 

[jugglingmum]

I'm sorry to hear your dad is in hospital.

Hopefully they will be able to give him something that helps with the hallucinations.

 

[Spamar]

Feel I must reiterate Sarasa’s comment on the paramedics. They came to my house twice last year when I was ill and they were brilliant! Made me feel at ease and in safe and capable hands. I’m sure it helps to aid the recovery.

 

[Saffie]

Hi Lin. I‘m so very sorry to hear about your Dad, you must be so worried and distressed. I remember the lovely relationship you have had with him and your telling us of his love for his motor bike. I am sure he is is the right place to get help.

If it helps to reassure at all, Dave had hallucinations when he was in hospital and he was given a low dose of the antipsychotic drug Rispiridone which was really effective. I really fought against him having it but was reassured that it would be for a short time only and indeed he was only taking it for about four months and it did calm him right down. I hope they find something to help your Dad.

I realise you have been through a bad time yourself in recent years so take great care of yourself too. I have happy memories of our times spent together. xxx

 

[lin1]

Thank you Granny G, Izzy, Sarasa,Jugglingmum,, Spamar and Saffie.

 

[lin1]

Dad came home yesterday, The good news is, his rather large but old subdural haematoma is no bigger and no sign of others.

His swollen leg is caused by a DVT , I had previously mentioned this possibly to his Gp a couple of times but hey ho he did nowt .
Because of his Subdural haematoma he can’t have the usual med for his DVT, so they’ve put him on injections , something similar to Claxine, the trouble is their isno instructions of how much to give, doh and it is still risky for him.

They took his shoes away while he was in the medical assessment unit bless him he has no idea why, sadly I do , the mental decline is very evident , so sudden too, fingers crossed their will be some recovery .

We both now have to self isolate for 14 days as their was a Covid patient in the bed next to him, they isolated him as soon as he tested positive.
Dad said they kept coming round pushing sticks up everyone’s noses

After me rushing around trying to pack a bag for him to take to hospital, they weren’t allowing patients to wear the clothes brought from home.

Dad loved the food in there. , mind you I thought is was excellent when I was in there back in 2015

 

[Izzy]

I‘m glad your dad is home @lin1.

I hope things settle down for him and you can get some advice and help on the injections.