Hi, all! Two different Dopers have contacted me, worried about my absence, so I am climbing back onto the face of the Earth to give a brief update.
Dad is now showing deficits in long term/implicit memory and skills. He couldn’t tell the difference between dishwashing soap and dishwasher soap. Then, he couldn’t figure out how to put the soap in the dishwasher, close the hatch, and start it. Helping him with that was painful. On the emotional side, he’s been much friendlier and nicer to me
He’s also been in the ER and hospital this week for chest pains that proved to be nothing.
I’m finding that I’m about at the end of my dealing with stuff rope. There are no days off. There is no personal time. There is no point when I can say “everyone’s okay, and there’s nothing to worry about.” I don’t bother looking for a full time job, because there’s no point. I am always on call. My counselor and I have talked about being in a situation, like mine, where you have responsibility but no authority, and how stressful it is. Now she is strongly urging me to talk to Mom about making the decision to put Dad in professional care and following through with it.
One of the things I will emphasize is that once Dad is placed, we will no longer have to worry about juggling schedules, being called away at a moment’s notice, arranging the household around his needs without letting him know, not having to deal with ‘the crocodile’ of Alzheimer’s when it rears its ugly head, and not being the bad guy when he wants to drive his car or hold the checkbook or carry the credit card in his wallet.
And, the sooner we do this, the better. All three of us are showing signs of extreme stress.
And you know what bugs me the most? The knowledge that I am not the only person to go through this, let alone the first. That not only am I not the only person going through this, I’m barely a face in an enormous crowd. That there are millions, if not tens of millions, of people going through this same horrendous crap. You’d think I’d take some comfort in the thought that I’m not alone, but actually, I find it horrifying that this is normal and not some singular, one-time crit fail on a family life saving throw.
I’m sorry, did I say brief? Heh.
Well, I’m going to go find some lunch and then run about a thousand errands. Love to all.