THANKYOU, all of you.....
My beautiful sister in law has promised to come with me to my next hospital appointment. She has to drive a long way to do that, but she wants to do it. There are some angels out there...
I think Rob hasn't even realised he's in a different place. This state of Alzheimers is a sort of blessing in a way, after all his anxiety. I don't know if it's been achieved with careful tweaking of drugs, or is simply a feature of advanced dementia.
We know we're losing him, but I don't think he realises any more that he's losing us....
Hi RA
I'm still following you and want to firstly send you a big ((((hug)))) for what you are dealing with yourself and also to pray that Rob settles in his new place and the carers soon understand how to help him and yourself with his care. Xxxx k
I'm sorry to hear about the lack of sleep. I looked after my mum for over 3 years in her own home and her inability to sleep broke me as I really need sleep myself. She could do nothing for herself but that wasn't the problem. I asked the Dr for sleeping pills for her but that didnt go down well. I feel I had no choice but to put her in a residential Home. She has been there for nearly two years and is very unhappy. Staff have to cope with her wandering around at night and often wimpering and whining for attention like a child. Recently she had unexplained bruising on her face. One or two of the other residents have a go at her (verbally only I hope) as they want to watch TV and she is making a noise. More often than not she becomes up set with me or is distressed. She was prescribed anti depressants by the community mental health team and these were increased but they don't make any difference. They have finally agreed to come and review as the Home chased this up.
I wonder why some people with dementia can't sleep. I know she doesn't differentiate between night avd day and does cat nap. I reluctantly came to the conclusion that I couldn't be deprived of sleep continually while she roamed the house yelling help and tried to open the front door. It's not a good situation now as I dread going to the Home - i always find a problem and surprisingly there are times when there is no staff supervision which is apparently acceptable. It's not like being in her own home where I could be in control of her care. Because of the sleep problems she would need waking care 24x7 at a cost of around £2000 a week plus the running costs of the house and that is not sustainable. The cost now is just over £1000 per week.
I am sorry I can't offer any solution. I think it's great that the alzheimers society are seeking funding for research but I do think there needs to be more help to improve the quality of life for those suffering with dementia in the here and now.