I have been looking through this forum and was wondering if anybody could please give me some advice.
I have suspected that my father, who turned 71 last week, has had memory problems now for the last 4 years. I live in Australia whereas my parents live in Lancashire. My mother & sister (who lives 5 minutes drive away) have only just agreed with me that there is an issue - particularly as they see him daily where I see him once every year (either in the UK or in Sydney) and see big changes.
I believe that he is showing all the signs of about level 3/4 including :
* Disorientation
* withdrawn
* Memory problems with words & names
* Issues with counting & writing
* Mood swings
* Verbal violence & unconfirmed physical violence
The list goes on.
He suffered a major blow to the head about 3.5 years ago and had heart surgery about 2.5 years ago. I had put the memory issues down to the heart problems but am now convinced that these 2 things were only a catalyst to the root problem.
My Mother has always relied on him to organise things and outwardly is a confident person but really is not and would not be able to cope with the situation if the disease progresses. My sister is very good at supporting them but lacks tact and diplomacy when addressing the issues and also has a busy job as well as 2 young children.
My Father is generally quite good but I have seen a big deterioration in him - he is at the moment with me in Sydney.
My problem is this - how do I get him to see the GP. He is a very proud and stubborn man and will not let anybody tell him what to do. About a year ago I contacted his GP and asked if he could give him a check over - he did this and changed his blood pressure tablets. My Mother told me things had got a lot better, but seeing him over the last 5 weeks this not the case.
He leaves for the UK in a week’s time - I am debating being direct with him and spelling out what the issues are in order to get him to go to the GP on his own. I have been direct with my mother, but she is not strong enough to take control of the situation. I believe that if he were to listen to anybody in the family it would be me but am unsure that if I take the firm approach I would do more harm than good.
Please could anybody let me know what they think of the direct approach or how they have managed to get their patient to recognise the issue and then get diagnosed.
Thank you.
I have suspected that my father, who turned 71 last week, has had memory problems now for the last 4 years. I live in Australia whereas my parents live in Lancashire. My mother & sister (who lives 5 minutes drive away) have only just agreed with me that there is an issue - particularly as they see him daily where I see him once every year (either in the UK or in Sydney) and see big changes.
I believe that he is showing all the signs of about level 3/4 including :
* Disorientation
* withdrawn
* Memory problems with words & names
* Issues with counting & writing
* Mood swings
* Verbal violence & unconfirmed physical violence
The list goes on.
He suffered a major blow to the head about 3.5 years ago and had heart surgery about 2.5 years ago. I had put the memory issues down to the heart problems but am now convinced that these 2 things were only a catalyst to the root problem.
My Mother has always relied on him to organise things and outwardly is a confident person but really is not and would not be able to cope with the situation if the disease progresses. My sister is very good at supporting them but lacks tact and diplomacy when addressing the issues and also has a busy job as well as 2 young children.
My Father is generally quite good but I have seen a big deterioration in him - he is at the moment with me in Sydney.
My problem is this - how do I get him to see the GP. He is a very proud and stubborn man and will not let anybody tell him what to do. About a year ago I contacted his GP and asked if he could give him a check over - he did this and changed his blood pressure tablets. My Mother told me things had got a lot better, but seeing him over the last 5 weeks this not the case.
He leaves for the UK in a week’s time - I am debating being direct with him and spelling out what the issues are in order to get him to go to the GP on his own. I have been direct with my mother, but she is not strong enough to take control of the situation. I believe that if he were to listen to anybody in the family it would be me but am unsure that if I take the firm approach I would do more harm than good.
Please could anybody let me know what they think of the direct approach or how they have managed to get their patient to recognise the issue and then get diagnosed.
Thank you.