Hi There, looking for advice or opinions, please....
Until recently, my Mum cared for Dad (LBD) at home, with help from my family. We could no longer cope, and a fortnights respite was arranged, which we hoped could be extended if all went well.
Things did not go too well, as he was desruptive and his night-time wanterings were too much for the staff to deal with, so we moved him to an EMI unit nearly a fortnight ago.
Since then, he has considetably deteriorated, and I don't know if this is a result of the moves, or just progression of the dementia. He can no longer hold a conversation - he sits bent over with his head on his chest, and refuses to lift it.The only time he does is to shout out incoherently. He will only drink small amounts, and his wolf-like appetite has deminished into just nibbling at things. He is doubly-incontinent, (he was fine a fortnight ago) and is refusing to wash, to clean his teeth, and, some days, refusing to dress. He seems to have sunk deeper than ever into his own world, and I'm not sure that he will ever surface again.
We are at a loss to know what to do next. The carers say that they cannot force him to dress or wash, which I fully understand, but where do we go from here? The Dr has visited, and says that really, Dad needs one-to-one care at the moment. Well, that's fine - how, exactly, do we get that?
From the wealth of experience out there - is this just a 'settling in' phase, or have we gone down a notch? I really would appreciate your views.
Thank you.
Until recently, my Mum cared for Dad (LBD) at home, with help from my family. We could no longer cope, and a fortnights respite was arranged, which we hoped could be extended if all went well.
Things did not go too well, as he was desruptive and his night-time wanterings were too much for the staff to deal with, so we moved him to an EMI unit nearly a fortnight ago.
Since then, he has considetably deteriorated, and I don't know if this is a result of the moves, or just progression of the dementia. He can no longer hold a conversation - he sits bent over with his head on his chest, and refuses to lift it.The only time he does is to shout out incoherently. He will only drink small amounts, and his wolf-like appetite has deminished into just nibbling at things. He is doubly-incontinent, (he was fine a fortnight ago) and is refusing to wash, to clean his teeth, and, some days, refusing to dress. He seems to have sunk deeper than ever into his own world, and I'm not sure that he will ever surface again.
We are at a loss to know what to do next. The carers say that they cannot force him to dress or wash, which I fully understand, but where do we go from here? The Dr has visited, and says that really, Dad needs one-to-one care at the moment. Well, that's fine - how, exactly, do we get that?
From the wealth of experience out there - is this just a 'settling in' phase, or have we gone down a notch? I really would appreciate your views.
Thank you.