Hello all,
It's got to the point where I feel I need some support and advice from other people who are having to deal with relatives with dementia.
My dad is 83 and has Lewy bodies dementia, he was diagnosed a couple of years ago, he has always suffered from anxiety and nerves all his life and been on medication for it, which i have been led to believe often leads to dementia later on in life.
He lives on his own ( my beautiful mum died 13 years ago) but has a carer come in twice a day and my two brothers take it in turns to go every evening o cook his tea- I unfortunately live too at away to physically help, but dad has relied on me constantly since mum passed away, and I can get upto 10+ phone calls day or night, and he will only except things if I have said it will be ok. As time goes on he is getting more and more tearful and fretful saying his body physically hurts and thinks something dreadful is going to happen, and wants me to make things better :0( I seem to spend all my time trying to console him or trying to think of ways I can help him cope - to no avail it seems. We don't want dad to go into a home he is financially stable enough to pay for carers to go to his house, but have a feeling this is not going to be enough as time goes on.
Any advice on how you cope and retain your own sanity whilst dealing with someone who is constantly in a state of anxiousness and confusion with life would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks x
It's got to the point where I feel I need some support and advice from other people who are having to deal with relatives with dementia.
My dad is 83 and has Lewy bodies dementia, he was diagnosed a couple of years ago, he has always suffered from anxiety and nerves all his life and been on medication for it, which i have been led to believe often leads to dementia later on in life.
He lives on his own ( my beautiful mum died 13 years ago) but has a carer come in twice a day and my two brothers take it in turns to go every evening o cook his tea- I unfortunately live too at away to physically help, but dad has relied on me constantly since mum passed away, and I can get upto 10+ phone calls day or night, and he will only except things if I have said it will be ok. As time goes on he is getting more and more tearful and fretful saying his body physically hurts and thinks something dreadful is going to happen, and wants me to make things better :0( I seem to spend all my time trying to console him or trying to think of ways I can help him cope - to no avail it seems. We don't want dad to go into a home he is financially stable enough to pay for carers to go to his house, but have a feeling this is not going to be enough as time goes on.
Any advice on how you cope and retain your own sanity whilst dealing with someone who is constantly in a state of anxiousness and confusion with life would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks x