He had gone a while without a fall, but took a nasty one the other day and really messed up his arm. Mom is doing the wound care routine on it several times per day and hopefully it will begin to heal. His skin is so fragile and this fall left a large gaping wound that the skin could not even be pulled over to stitch so that is not an option.
He called me the yesterday and left two fairly urgent sounding messages on my answering machine asking me to immediately call him back and as soon as I got the message I did. He simply needed his drill (which I had borrowed to remove my curtain hardware from the wall to be able to paint) but he considered that to be an emergency. I went over to their house right after we got off the phone and returned his drill and the charger I had, which did not work. Later that night, he told Mom he thought I was angry with him because I wouldn't return his messages, to which she replied that I had already come over and returned his drill. He was still insistent that I was upset and hadn't contacted him.
He is difficult to convince when he "knows" in his mind that things are one way and he often breaks things because he "knows" how it works. Yesterday, he confused the drill batteries with the charger and tried for several minutes to disassemble the batteries, which he was unable to do. Mom and I both tried convincing him that the batteries didn't come apart and I even showed him where the screws were that held the rest of it together to prove that it was not something he could pull apart but he became angry with me and told me he knew what he was doing. He has tried to use his power saw to open the door (it was locked, like it always is) and several other such incidents that seemed extreme for the situation, but that is how his mind works now. He is also not wanting to ask for help, or feel helpless I am sure, and so he would rather deal with it himself (even using extreme means) than have to swallow his pride admit he isn't sure how to do everything anymore. He is difficult to interact with when he is confused because he won't listen to reason. I understand that's part of dementia, but it doesn't make it much easier to deal with when you're fighting with him to try to keep him from breaking things.
He is also hiding things because he thinks it's funny, but he hides things like medication and such and then is unable to recall where he has hidden it.
I do not see him being able to drive again, but he does not know this. Right now, that is what we're striving for. He is intent on driving again and that motivates him. We are able to use that to our advantage to help him get through the bad times.
Tell your dad I said hi.
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