Nov. 9, 2009

11/9/09

Something’s up with Dad. On Friday, when Kate S, Brianna and I gathered for our Friday night family dinner at Dad’s place, we found him in bed, asleep. He didn’t emerge until 8pm, stayed up for an hour and a half and then went back to bed. He was asleep again when I arrived on Saturday, didn’t get up until 5pm, and then headed back to bed at 8pm. On Sunday, he was awake, but when Michael tried to give him dinner, he said he wasn’t hungry and refused to eat it, a very unusual behavior for Dad.

I asked him if he felt sick and he said no, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not sick. I think I’ll take his temperature tonight, just to be sure. Of course, this behavior could also be the result of a psychological issue – Alzheimer’s usually makes people sleep less, not more, but I suppose he might be waking up at night when we’re not there and then sleeping during the day to make up for it. I’m seriously considering setting up a “Dad-cam” in his bedroom so that I can see what he’s doing late at night. If he is becoming nocturnal, then it has implications for scheduling his care – there’s not much point in having people go over there when he’s asleep, but I’d have to hire someone to sit with him at night if he’s awake then. I don’t know how we’d pay for it, but my friends and I can’t stay up at those hours. If he is waking up at night, it must be really late because I stayed at his house until 2am Thursday since I had to catch a 3am train, and he was sound asleep.

Another possibility is depression – or boredom or a combination. His world is definitely becoming increasingly limited. It’s hard to know what to do if depression is the problem – I’m hesitant to add any psychotropic drugs to the mix since they tend to have a lot more adverse reactions in the elderly and his brain’s already pretty scrambled. I suppose I could take him to Dr. Honig, but it takes forever to get an appt with him. If he’s bored, then we need to find more activities for him – a challenge when you add his blindness into the mix. But what if he’s going to bed because the world is too confusing and bed is where he feels safe? In that case he might need less stimulation, not more.

It’s so difficult to figure all this out when dealing with someone who can’t communicate clearly. I almost wish I could bring him to the vet – he’s used to figuring out what’s going on in patients who can’t talk.