As part of the comprehensive care that was recommended to me by people familiar with geriatric concerns and dementia, it was suggested my dad see a neurologist. I was really dreading the MMSE portion of the visit, but wow, it was eye opening. :( I know how much my dad is struggling, but he has "work arounds" at home - his calendar, his newspaper, just being in a familiar surrounding. When outside that, things are not so easy. Some examples...
What day, year, season is it? He had no clue
Did you take the stairs or elevator here? No clue
What floor are we on? Very next question by the way, and the last one sort of implied we weren't on the first floor. My dad's answer: I dunno, first?
He asked for a simple series of steps, something like, take this piece of paper with your right hand, fold it in half, hand it back with your right hand. Not even close.
Can you write a sentence? My dad signed his name. :(
The most interesting one was when the doctor asked him to spell "world". He did that just fine, but then he asked for him to spell it backwards. He looked totally stumped but tried, and came up with "drw". Makes me wonder what it is about that task that makes it difficult. He has enough short term memory to remember what word he is working on, but maybe can't keep a picture of it in his head at the same time?
So you get the picture. Considered pretty far along dementia by the doctor. Not a surprise to me, but still sad. This is not an easy journey.
In which I process my thoughts about becoming an official part of the sandwich generation, as a caregiver for my father, while trying to practice mindfulness and self care and uphold principles of unschooling and sustainability.
No comments:
Post a Comment