We were finally able to settle Mom’s estate.  However, shortly after setting the estate Dad's confusion, which had improved greatly, took a turn for the worse.  It was almost as if he had held himself together to get things done and then just fell apart.

Emails from Dave began describing episodes of confusion and disturbing behavior.

 “Dad has been making an absolute disaster of the house! I can't find the records to give to the accountant. Tough to schedule a caregiver because Dad does not sleep on any kind of schedule. It's a 50/50 chance he will be asleep or awake at any given moment. 

I received the packet of info from the Geriatric Care Manager with the symptoms of Dementia. Dad is exhibiting a large number of the symptoms - 70% of Mild symptoms, 50% of Moderate symptoms and 30% of severe symptoms.” 

During our May 2012 visit we noticed that Dad had become mellower and more compliant – still refused to use a walker, wheelchair or the motor cart in Walmart. He moved very slowly with a bit of a shuffle. He was often fixated on issues. 

He clearly used coping methods during the Geriatric Care Manager’s evaluation.  When asked today’s date, he requested his newspaper.  He confused relationships between Julie and me (granddaughter, daughter.)

Very, very tough visit, but we got a lot accomplished.

Prior to leaving for California, I set things in motion for Dad’s personal care from a caregiver …