 |
 |
Thanks to all who've responded, both with ideas to keep Dad occupied, as well as some ideas about his hallucinations. I'd like to clarify a few things, though. First, on the hallucinations. Mom is working with his doctors to try to insure that he's getting the right amount of the right stuff at the right time. Unfortunately, he's on a very low dose of Sinemet only right now, and the doctors are reluctant to remove any more, for the trade off on the physical symptoms. I know that some of the anti-psychotics were suggested, but we're not going that way again. Dad took one dose of the minimum dose of Zyprexa a few months back. Even that amount of the drug caused such a terrible reaction that the hallucinations are preferable. He's just very highly drug intolerant. Second, a frequent suggestion was/is a computer for him. If he'd show some interest, we'd do everything we could to get him set up with one. Internet access would be tough because of the phone situation, but he's not even interested in his machine at all. For the past 18 months (before moving to the nursing home) he'd go back to his "office" and just stare at the machine. He said that his brain "wouldn't process that stuff anymore". So, you see, the computer is/was a major source of frustration. Some of the ideas (jigsaw puzzles, bird feeders, crafts, etc.) sound very practical, and we'll be looking into them. I'll keep y'all posted on how things turn out. Diane McHutchison ld caregiver for Dad (69/7+) [log in to unmask]