Aw hell

[missdiane]

Dad didn't have a lot of luck being able to get up and do much this morning according to the chart. Also, Sis talked to him and evidently he's told her he's going to die in three days.

My, that's awfully specific. O_o

He's now refusing PT and Sis is losing her shit and who is she taking it out on and screaming at? Yep, you guessed it. Evidently I do "nothing" and she doesn't have a "government job" so she has to WORK (say what?). I told her I'd do my best to convince him to give it a shot but if he refuses, I can only persuade so much. Being the primary POA doesn't mean that I can tell the PT folks to strong arm him and force him to walk around. Is he a bit loopy and not quite in his right mind? Yeah. But if he firmly says no, there's only so much to do.

I gave the hospital a call and while I didn't get a chance to talk to Dad, I did talk to the very nice nurse and he let me know that Dad is being pleasant but he's pretty sure he's going to die. They're going to try to get him up again this afternoon and I let them know if he says no, they can give me a call since I have a gentler touch and might be a little more persuasive.

I mean heck, if you're going to die anyway, may as well go standing rather than lying on your ass, eh?

But yeah, no stress.

Comments

[spiffikins]

have they run any blood tests to see if there is any medical reason for his confusion/hallucinations?

I remember my coworker, decades ago, told us how his wife woke up in the middle of the night, SOBBING. He was trying to find out what was wrong, and she was ABSOLUTELY convinced that she was dead. Nothing he could say, no *logic* like "I'm talking to you, I'm touching you? You are breathing, you have a heartbeat" - could convince her otherwise.

He ended up taking her in to the ER - and they determined she was low on potassium, which apparently can provide you with REALLY INTENSE pyschosis and hallucinations...who knew?

[missdiane]

They check his levels all the time. Aside from being anemic and dehydrated, which can affect things, there's nothing else that's obvious. The psych ward classified him with "schizophrenia" which...huh?

He has vascular dementia from the mini strokes he had during surgery in 2021 and from what I can find, occasionally psychosis can develop at times depending on the level of health.

[spiffikins]

That's weird about the schizophrenia diagnosis and feels off, eh? Were they not provided with his medical history?

hugging you hard!

[missdiane]

The delusions and paranoia came on very quickly, just the last few months. Evidently late life schizophrenia is a thing though it's really more just "psychosis" since from what I find, it can be reversed.

Either way, hopefully the dude can get on something so that he doesn't think he's got a target on his head all the time.