Hi all
This is my first post on this forum as my dad was diagnosed today officially with Vascular Dementia, but he's been deteriorating for 1+ year.
A bit of background: I have a 16 month old toddler, my dad is divorced, I'm his only daughter & his parents are deceased. He doesn't live with me but wants to come over everyday. The thing is, its so difficult right now as I have my toddler who really needs me, and then also having my dad who needs constant help etc gets to be too much and I almost feel like I might explode. I can't take my eyes off him or leave them in a room together because he has started picking my son up roughly (he loves him to bits, he just doesn't understand) or pick my son up away from his toy and my son is always screaming and getting annoyed (ive told my dad repeatedly not to do this but he still does). The other day he also left the garden side gate open and my son nearly walked out into the road!
Its such a hard situation right now because I'm sure my dad isn't looking after himself properly in his own flat so its either he comes here and then I get so overwhelmed that I feel like I am going to explode or I tell him not to come here and then I worry whether he's eating/getting lost/feeling anxious/lonely.
I feel so incredibly guilty to be honest right now. I've lost my cool with my dad too many times before this official diagnosis due to the combo of dad/toddler, and because of the fact that at first they were telling us its just anxiety! So I flittered between thinking he did really have dementia or that he was being self-indulgent. I feel awful that I wasn't more patient
This is my first post on this forum as my dad was diagnosed today officially with Vascular Dementia, but he's been deteriorating for 1+ year.
A bit of background: I have a 16 month old toddler, my dad is divorced, I'm his only daughter & his parents are deceased. He doesn't live with me but wants to come over everyday. The thing is, its so difficult right now as I have my toddler who really needs me, and then also having my dad who needs constant help etc gets to be too much and I almost feel like I might explode. I can't take my eyes off him or leave them in a room together because he has started picking my son up roughly (he loves him to bits, he just doesn't understand) or pick my son up away from his toy and my son is always screaming and getting annoyed (ive told my dad repeatedly not to do this but he still does). The other day he also left the garden side gate open and my son nearly walked out into the road!
Its such a hard situation right now because I'm sure my dad isn't looking after himself properly in his own flat so its either he comes here and then I get so overwhelmed that I feel like I am going to explode or I tell him not to come here and then I worry whether he's eating/getting lost/feeling anxious/lonely.
I feel so incredibly guilty to be honest right now. I've lost my cool with my dad too many times before this official diagnosis due to the combo of dad/toddler, and because of the fact that at first they were telling us its just anxiety! So I flittered between thinking he did really have dementia or that he was being self-indulgent. I feel awful that I wasn't more patient