My mUm
Sorry but reading this thread ( and I haven't read it all yet), it is my mum. People visiting, two men and a woman invited by my dad (who died 3 years ago), had to leave the front door open for them in case they needed to come in, it wasn't her who put the telly on at 3 a.m. it was them. oh, on it goes.
Then we got the confusion re day and night. She rang me up at 10.30 p.m. What is happening? Er, what do you mean Mum? It is dark and new at 10 has just been on. Yes, that's cos it is now 10.30 p.m. Mum. What are you doing? Well, I've just had my breakfast and now it is dark. It is bedtime Mum, go to bed. But I've only just got up.
We never found out whether that was true or not, I just know I found her having her 9 p.m. glass of sherry at 4 p.m. , her dinner at 9 a.m., her lunch at 4.30 p.m., and when I took her to the GP one Wednesday at 5 p.m., she thanked him for seeing her at 9.30 on a Saturday night!
She was totally out of it as regards days/times. She was not eating at appropriate times, if at all, she was not taking medication at the right time. She had just totally lost the concept of times of day. She had been phoning friends, and all sorts of other people in the middle of the night. Eventually these friends told me about this, but an itemised bill from BT proved it.
Then she was found at the bus stop at 1 a.m., reported to the police. We then knew all those days when she said"I didn't go to get my hair done, cos when I got to the bus stop it went dark and the bus didn't come" meant she had been attempting to get there at night.
Very sad, but a secure Care Home was a necessity. Care in the Community is what I would have wanted but it doesn't cover night-time, and even if she had been locked in her house, she wouldn't have known why. A night carer costs £25 an hour, and from 10 p.m to 8 a.m. is £250 a day. Not on.
So she has gone into a cAre home, we are still settling her in, I'll keep you .posted. We aren't enthralled by it, but it is okay. We will see. Watch this space
So I would say this is what you have to consider for your mum. I have to say the hallucinations have gone, no-one is "visiting" her in the care home. No men and a woman, no husband. She is sleeping and eating well. She is bored to death, can't hear a thing, that's another issue which I am solving.
Hope it helps to know you are not alone.
Margaret