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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Memory hole

Last summer my dad had a mini stroke and seizure. He has no lasting damage -except some holes in his memory. His problem struck back in the early part of last summer. I hadn’t seen him since last spring. Now that I’m here, I’ve got a better idea how he’s doing.

Dad’s day to day function seems unimpaired, and for that I am grateful. He does his chores, takes care of his finances, and was even elected to the board of his home owners association.

It is a bit disconcerting the things he did forget. He sent a Christmas card to one of my uncles but forgot that his wife had died 6 years ago.

He had no memory of going out out on the sailboat with me last winter. Even after showing him some photos of our trip he still had no recall. It makes me wonder what other gaps will show up as we spend more time together.

Dad’s main concern is that it doesn’t happen again. He’s keeping up with his doctor’s appointments and taking his medications.

I am relieved to see that dad is still dad. Anyone who has lost relatives to Alzheimers knows how it is to see someone slowly slip away until they are just a shell of themselves. Maybe that day will come, but for now things are good enough.

-Sixbears

6 comments:

  1. well you might just get to the day he greets you with a loaded shotgun wondering what varmit you are...

    til then keep him happy

    Wildflower

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  2. One of dem damn yankee varmints hehe...

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  3. I am glad to hear that your Dad is OK and also glad to see that your commenters have a sense of humor.

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  4. Those memory holes are hard to take at times. I called my Dad & he thought the entire time he was talking to one of my sisters. That turned out to be an interesting conversation because he has a habit of playing us against one another.

    Alzheimer's runs in our family so I'm familiar with what likely lies ahead for me - though I won't realize that when it arrives!

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  5. A good friend of mine is going through Alzheimer's with his Dad. He once had to go looking for his Dad who had wandered off, and found him walking along the road locally "on his way" to San Antonio. Sad stuff. Glad your Dad is doing better, relatively speaking.

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