This blog was formerly dedicated in 2009 to my Dad who died of Alzheimer's in 2013. It's been three years now...and I find myself missing blogging...so I am re-inventing my blog... because, after all, life is about moving through, and going forward...

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Dad's on the Rampage...Here We Go Again...

"HELLO? (Mistaking my brother's voice on Mom's recording, for my youngest brother E_____)

"E_____ GET MY FRIEND WITH THE CAR AND TELL HIM TO BRING MONEY AND PICK ME UP RIGHT NOW!  DO YOU HEAR ME?"

(No answer because Dad is yelling into the recorder...Mom will not pick up the phone when Dad is like this...because it is like throwing gasoline on a fire..."

"I CAN'T FIND YOUR MOTHER...I"VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR HER.  WHERE IS SHE????"

"HELLO!"


"I'M NOT ASKING YOU FOR MONEY, TELL MY FRIEND WITH THE CAR TO GET OVER HERE!"

"HELLO?"

"I AM LEAVING THIS PLACE RIGHT NOW!  I CAN'T HANDLE IT ANYMORE AND THEY CAN'T HANDLE ME!"

"HURRY UP!"   Click!

Dad made two more calls like this during the course of the day...

I called this morning to follow up on the call I made last night.  I asked them to get Dad back on his Lexapro...we go through this every time they take Dad off "his happy pills".  I guess Medicare keeps close tabs on his medication and when he does better (better?  Hello, he has Alzheimer's!  It's like taking him off his Alzheimer's medication for Pete's Sake!) Medicare thinks he should be taken off the medication...

I wish those Medicare Monitors had parents with Alzheimer's and they had to go through what we go through when Dad goes off his medication!

I called back in the afternoon after I had not heard from her from this morning...plus Mom had called me after listening to Dad's rantings on the phone machine...The charge nurse told me she had called the Psychiatrist, but had not heard from him yet...  I asked for his phone number and called his office.  Funny thing, the psych nurse said no one from the nursing home had called, and the doctor was on call....  So I reiterated how our family wants Dad back on his Lexapro because we don't want him to end up in the Psych ward.  I ask for the doctor to call the nursing home and gave her the phone number and name of the charge nurse...

Within an hour, the charge nurse called and said she was faxing the prescription to the pharmacy.  I asked her to unplug Dad's phone since she told me they could not take it out of his room...guess they need it there in case of an emergency.  She said she would unplug it.  I am hoping if the phone does not work, Dad will go to the nursing station and ask for help in calling...then they can have him call me (like they are suppose to do) instead of bothering Mom.  Poor thing, her blood pressure and heart rate were off the charts...

Hopefully, he will be back on the medication by tomorrow morning.  The doctor also prescribed Ativan if Dad gets aggressive...but that medication is only to be used as a last resort.

Let's hope, we can get Dad back on track and feeling happy and content again...

7 comments:

Mari said...

I'm so sorry you are all having to deal with this. Hope they get those meds started tonight. On top of upsetting the family, this has to be hard for your Dad too.

Unknown said...

That's got to be so frustrating to have them take your dad off of his meds and then to have him start all over again. It takes a bit to get it back in his system. The psychiatrist should make a note that there should be no reason to take him off of his meds, period. Hang in there.

Linda O'Connell said...

Stomp your foot until you get what he needs.

Jeanie said...

Your mom and dad are both very lucky to have you to intervene in these kind of situations. Hopefully they will get him back on the medication and quit messing with it.

Wander to the Wayside said...

I feel for all of you, especially your mom. Even when I knew that my dad was acting out because of the alzheimers, I was still devastated when he'd go on these same rampages as they were always aimed at me (you stole my car, you stole my money, it's your fault I'm in here, etc.). As for the lexapro, your dad does better BECAUSE he's on the medication - duh! Hope they get this under control soon for everybody's sake ...

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

The whole thing with the medication is stupid. He's better because he's ON it! It's not like cold medicine.
Really sorry your mom has to endure all of that.

JeannetteLS said...

Like you needed this? OR your mom? Insurance... I hope he is calmer now, Donna. What on EARTH would they do without you? Thinking of you.