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Hello Denis, I am sorry to hear of your father's difficult condition. While I am neither a doctor nor a neurologist perhaps there are some things I can say to help. > > My father (77) has the Parkinson disease since 6 years. > He is now loosing his mind (not sure if it is because of > pills or as a side effect of the disease). For example, > at 4 PM, he wonders about when they are going to lunch > (which he had at 12). So, he is not always lucid. It certainly sounds like your father is experiencing some dementia but it's hard to tell from your comments how bad it is. If he has forgotten something that happened a few hours ago then certainly his memory is effected. A good neurologist should be able to determine how much and what is being caused by his pills. There may be adjustments in medication or other drugs that can be prescribed to help with some of the effects of dementia. > > He is in a center (his flour is full of Alzeimer and > Parkinson) since 6 months and when he is lucid enough, > I can feel his pain and distress. He has now understood > he will never be back to home. > > 4 weeks ago, we brought him to restaurant in his rolling > chair (not sure of the right word here, a chair with wheels). > I pushed him for about 1 mile and when we were in front of > the family home, he didn't react, not even looked at it. I > didn't ask him any question at that time. > > What I would like to know is if we should now close the door > completely with his past, never be back to home (for example, > for next Christmas), because of the pain he may have, or if > this will be of no or limited effect. > > In his room at the hospital, there are pictures of his > children and grand-children, but none of the home. A > deliberate choice by the children, not by him. Has your father been treated for depression? It's bad enough to have Parkinson's and realize that you have to live in a center or nursing home away from your family, but facing these problems with the depression that is often caused by Parkinson's can make it much worse. Not reacting when he sees the family home could be a part of giving up on his situation rather than forgeting his past. In my experience with my father, who was one of the smaller percentage of people with Parkinson's who suffered severe dementia, he did not forget his past completely. He did have periods of time when he was confused, forgot names or was not able to recognize people. At other times he was far more alert and aware of his situation and those around him. People with Parkinson's are more likely to also have Alzheimer's disease than the general population. If this is the case, a good neurologist should recognize it and treat it. My personal opinion is that you should NOT cut him off from his memories of his home. Part of treating dementia and Parkinson's in general is staying as physically and mentally active as possible. Anything that can stimulate creative thinking is positive. Dealing with having to live away from home and knowing you will not be going back to live must be very painful. But trying to hide that fact rather than allowing someone with dementia to accept it could be just as harmful to someone psychologically. Cutting someone off from their past is not going to help with dementia. In fact people who suffer from dementia can often recall experiences from childhood far better than something that happened a few short hours ago. I think that going home for Christmas should be a positive experience. It is a social opportunity; a chance to be stimulated intellectually by relatives and close friends, a chance to interact. It may be difficult emotionally but I don't think it's an experience you want to take away. Best of luck to you, your family and your father. -ken