Briefly.... because I need to go do errands... I have been through the same with my dad (who is almost 76). It started a year or two before my mom died; all of a sudden he just seemed _old_. And after she died, well, he became even older. You saw him at my wedding; he's doing much better now (thanks to Helen and viagra!) ... and, I am more used to thinking of him as "old" now.
There were some other issues which might also be relevant for your father: medication interactions, and depression. It took a long time to work out the right combination of medications that would control some of my dad's Parkinson's-like symptoms and also keep his mood more stable, without putting him into a stupor and also while helping him maintain normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels. During that long period of trial and error, he lost his driver's license for several months, which made him even more depressed.
_but_ as it turned out, things did get better for him. And, as I said above, I really had to shift my perceptions of him and get used to the fact that he _is_ old, and he _is_ somewhat frail.
I had to deal with this for about the last, oh, ten years or so until my father passed away in March. It started the second time he went into the hospital; not sure just when that was but it was sometime in the early 1990s.
It stinks.
The toughest thing to do was to look at someone who used to have an active intellect and practically lived at the local library turning his brain to tapioca with daytime trash TV.
*hugs* and if you ever want to talk you know where I am.
to expand: I had lots of reasons for moving back here, but one of them was definitely the realization that my parents were getting old and I didn't want to be on the other side of the continent from them any more.
health has degenerated a lot for them both in the six years since I first really noticed this, but it's particularly pronounced for my father. he's just kind of wearing out. he sleeps constantly (probably >20 hours a day by now. he is always falling asleep.) and he can't move quickly and most of the time he is clearly mentally somewhere else. he's perfecttly lucid (brilliant and funny generally) the rest of the time, but mostly he's just not present, like he's already drifting out of this reality most of the time.
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Date: 2002-09-21 09:11 am (UTC)There were some other issues which might also be relevant for your father: medication interactions, and depression. It took a long time to work out the right combination of medications that would control some of my dad's Parkinson's-like symptoms and also keep his mood more stable, without putting him into a stupor and also while helping him maintain normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels. During that long period of trial and error, he lost his driver's license for several months, which made him even more depressed.
_but_ as it turned out, things did get better for him. And, as I said above, I really had to shift my perceptions of him and get used to the fact that he _is_ old, and he _is_ somewhat frail.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 09:37 am (UTC)It stinks.
The toughest thing to do was to look at someone who used to have an active intellect and practically lived at the local library turning his brain to tapioca with daytime trash TV.
*hugs* and if you ever want to talk you know where I am.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 04:22 pm (UTC)health has degenerated a lot for them both in the six years since I first really noticed this, but it's particularly pronounced for my father. he's just kind of wearing out. he sleeps constantly (probably >20 hours a day by now. he is always falling asleep.) and he can't move quickly and most of the time he is clearly mentally somewhere else. he's perfecttly lucid (brilliant and funny generally) the rest of the time, but mostly he's just not present, like he's already drifting out of this reality most of the time.