My father seemed much better today. His voice was a little stronger. I let him drive our car, and he did that well. He concentration never faltered. This might just be a fluke, just a temporary thing. But I found it very encouraging.
My father had a CAT scan recently. I will let you all know how that turns out. Also, he had his beta blocker dose cut in half. At first this didn’t seem to make much difference. But as I said, today was a good day for him.
[quote] Jim: He no longer has an interest in the things he once did. He no longer laughs and jokes around like he once did. And he told me today he has problems concentrating he didn’t have (too much) before. The doctors claim this is all because he was laying around alot in the hospital. But there is clearly more to it than that.
I am not a doctor, but Irishgirl is. And a couple of the symptoms you mentioned are symptoms of depression:
A loss of interest in his usual activities
Problems with concentration
Have his sleeping habits changed in any way? Has he had a recent weight gain or loss?
Be sure to mention the two changes that you described here and the change in his sense of humor to his doctor.
You are a wonderful son and are doing good things for him. If you have a place to sit outside, it is good to get a little fresh air. If he doesn’t feel like bathing, you would do him a service by making sure that he is bathed each day. Is he in a condition to walk at all? A little bit of exercise made me feel better, but I don’t know what his physician allows.
I am a Protestant, but I have always loved Mary very much since childhood. I will pray for both of you for all that’s good. May you yourself feel stronger when the time is right for it. Peace be with you, Jim.
Since your dad is seeing the doctor and seeing some improvement, I’ll offer this advice (which probably won’t be what you want to hear, but it might be what you need to hear) - a serious illness in an elderly person can often be the onset of them truly feeling and acting old. It seems to act like a physical and psychological shock to the system (no big surprise there). Your dad’s an old guy; he’s not going to recover from this like an 18 year old. I guess the real trick is figuring out how much is side effects of medication and such, and how much is an old person starting to feel old.
