Hospitals themselves contribute to delusions: it's the strange environment

Yeah. When my grandmother was in the hospital for several weeks one of the things she said to me was, "I don't like this hotel."

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Pix, I've been through a similar situation (dad in the hospital, extremely disoriented, experiencing delusions), and it's awful. I hope a solution presents itself quickly.

You might see if there's a geriatric specialist who will take a look at his medications? Doctors tend to just add meds without re-evaluating the needs for the previous prescriptions, which can result in conflicts and unexpected interactions.

This is a very good idea. I'm sure he's also been tested for a UTI (for some reason, UTIs make elderly people kind of crazy), but on the off chance that he hasn't, that's something to follow up on.

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Oh, Pix, I’m so sorry. We’ve been through the same with my Dad and it’s so heartbreaking.

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He's been tested for everything. No UTI. His medications have been working fine for a long time (they are just his neurological meds and SSRI, prescribed by his neurologist, who specialized in elderly dementia) and cholesterol/blood pressure meds. A friend suggested that perhaps being off his meds resulted in a small stroke, which is also possible.

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Pix, I'm so sorry.

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Did they get the MRI done?

They just took him down now. He will be back in an hour or so, and then we will wait for the results.

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Pix, I am so sorry. I wish I could be there for you.

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Unrelatedly, I am doing the dance of someone-else-answered-the-email-I-didn't-how-to-respond-to, hooray!

This is an awesome dance.

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Oh, I left you all on a cliffhanger. No new results. Just advanced brain atrophy and evidence of all of the mini strokes he's had. So no reason why things would have gone so far off the rails so quickly. He was still incoherent tonight and still hallucinating a bit, so the sedative from last night isn't out of his system yet (NO SEDATIVES FOR MY DAD EVER). I stayed until almost 6 until the new sitter got there. She was lovely and offered to help get Dad cleaned up, which he really needed. Sadly, she will be gone at 7, so I don't know who the overnight person will be. But since I was a squeaky wheel and complained about last night's sitter, they are probably going to make sure they give him someone solid tonight. I hope. I asked Miriam, the lovely sitter from this afternoon, if she would please convey the need for him to have someone understanding and kind tonight.

I feel like tomorrow will tell me a lot about whether or not he's going to recover from this. That will be his third day back on his correct meds, and the sedative should be completely out of his body. Everyone, if you send light or vibes or prayers, please send them my dad's way. I don't want him to end his life, however many years he has left, in this state.

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Sending you lots of love, Pix. You came to the absolute right place for no filter needed.

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