Dad has been dreaming a lot lately. Well, more than usual and he has been confused about what was real and not real. He was eating breakfast yesterday morning and told me about seeing Mom over his bed and putting the covers back on him. He started to cry about it....I patted his hand and said I wish I could see her. I don't know if she is really there or not but he believes it and I let it go at that. There are spirits around us I believe so why not Mom hanging around Dad?
He sees a woman in his room with a little baby sometimes. She never says anything, just walks around with the baby. He was seeing her without having dementia so it's something else bringing these visions to light. They sure make good stories for Dad to tell though.
Dad is having a bit of a set back in the last 24 hours. Not sure what brought it on other than the connections in the brain. I have noticed several changes in the last week. There were a couple times he asked me questions that were a bit fuzzy. Yesterday he went to the Senior Center. I picked him up around 4pm and we went to the foot dr. I noticed in there he was getting days confused and was concerned about what to say to the dr about how he was doing. He couldn't remember how he was doing with his feet. I told him to relax and just wait for the Drs questions and just to tell him what he is feeling NOW...it all worked out and Dad was able to tell him what was going on.
When we got home I told Dad to change into his robe and be more comfy...which he did. He had not slept good the night before with dreaming and seeing people so I thought a rest might be in order before dinner.
He slept restlessly for about 2 hours and then when he started to wake up he was weak and needed both Rod and I to help him up off the sofa when he could get up all by himself not less than a day ago. I have been concerned about little signs I have seen but this was by far not good. He knew he was going backwards too. I told him he is bound to have some setbacks....and to keep thinking about how far he has come. It's been rainy and damp and we all have had achy muscles and joint pain. He did get to the table but he was being slow at eating and somewhat messy. His hand started to jerk a lot more last night. He asked me if Bob and his son was here. (his cousin) I just replied back in the form of a question....Did you think Bob came all the way to Oklahoma? Then he thought for himself saying he didn't know what he was thinking.
He also thought that he had some coins in his pockets that were hot. I assured him there were no coins and that it was Dementia that was creeping back in and to fight it the best he could. He said it seemed so real and would try to keep it all straight.
His appetite was good though....he had room for some carrot cake!
He went back to the sofa to watch some TV with us but soon fell asleep. He was moaning most of the time which was an old habit several months ago. I let him sleep until 10pm and then woke him to go to bed. Rod helped him to the bathroom and then I got Dad ready for bed. He was rather "out of it" but he would answer me when I asked a question. His hearing has been especially poor in the last few days. Not sure if there is a relation but it is curious. Some months ago his hearing actually improved with the dementia. Odd.
So he finally did get into bed. I asked him if he needed the alarm on the bed again and he said yes. So with that yes I figured he knew something was up and didn't trust himself to get up alone. We all went to bed and I awoke at 4am and realized Dad's alarm never went off. So I checked on him and he was SOUND asleep, and still in the same position as he was when he went to bed. That never happens. He was apparently just wore out and with the bad nights sleep prior to last night, he was finally getting some real good rest.
I had set the alarm for him to get up at 6am so he could have breakfast because after 7am he couldn't have anything to eat or drink until they do the epidural today. He didn't stir much when I tried to wake him so I decided sleep was more important than food so let him be. By 6:45am he was getting up and then I went back in the room to offer cereal again and yes, he was ready.
The nurse came at 9am and Dad had gone back to bed after breakfast. Then Diana, the bath gal was here by 9:30 and Dad was moving much better but still needing assistance in getting from one place to the other.
He is resting on the sofa watching the Price is Right. In an hour we wll be off to get his "booster" steroid shot in the back.
Let's hope that this was just a short set back and that the dementia does not take over his mind again.
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