I don't think I've ever written about it - my parents have been really private about it for multiple reasons - my dad was diagnosed with dementia several years ago. He had been doing okay - short term memory was definitely affected, and his hearing and sight have been going as he has other ailments, but he's still been able to interact and go on outings, and generally seem like himself.
In May he moved to a memory care unit (same location as my mom) and since then he has declined really rapidly - physically and mentally. Each visit is hard as we never fully know what to expect, and while I catch glimpses of his old self its hard to see him changing so quickly.
He has also been a fixer and a doer so its also hard to think of what he must be thinking, and feeling as his body fails him.
We are now working with hospice services, which is still a scary word every time I hear it, and we are navigating just day by day...and making many mistakes along the way.
I am thankful my siblings and I are close and we have each other as we go through this.
I'm struggling with how to balance taking care of myself and trying to see him and my mom as much as possible, and help out with the various decisions that need to be made - as if we didn't have enough going on, my mom is also dealing with identity theft...
I just recently started to tell my friends what has been going on...it should help me to be able to talk about it.
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