TIA Weekend

We believe that dad may have suffered a TIA Stroke last weekend.  We noticed a slight droop in the muscles of his face on his right side.  His ability to stand and balance himself was greatly diminished.  We believe that he has suffered TIA strokes in the past.  Each episode affects his memory, and his ability to perform normal daily tasks.

For example, normally first thing in the morning, mom has him sit up on the edge of the bed (feet on the floor) to get him ready for the day.  She hands him his electric shaver.  He knows how to turn it on, and then he proceeds to shave.  The only thing is that he doesn't really know when to quit shaving.  Unless someone intercedes, he would just keep on shaving indefinitely.

On Sunday morning, mom let dad shave himself.  When he had completed shaving, mom had him give her the electric shaver.  She next handed him his toothbrush, with a little bit of toothpaste on it.  Instead of brushing his teeth, as he normally does, he instead started brushing his face with the toothbrush.  Toothpaste got smeared all over his face.  I believe that he thought he was still shaving, and was trying to use the toothbrush as a razor.

Dad's balance, coordination, and overall strength was diminished as well as a result of the TIA.  It took three people to get him up from the bed.  Two were needed to hold him up while his clothes and brief were changed. 

He also has forgotten what to do in the bathroom.  It is tricky sometimes to get him to transition from his walker to the toilet.  We have hand rails in the bathroom so that he can let go of the walker, and then position himself on the toilet.  Mark recently added a riser to the toilet seat, so that it was not so far down for him to sit down, and to stand up after doing his business.

The only problem is, that somedays he will refuse to sit down on the toilet.  It is like he has forgotten why he is there, and what he is supposed to do. Even if you can get him to sit down on the toilet, he doesn't know what he is supposed to do once he is there.  Dad's hearing loss, along with the Alzheimer's Disease are playing a role here.   Dad has to wear briefs (Depends)  now, and is incontinent most of the time.

Dad's strength and balance have improved somewhat from last weekend, but each time he has a TIA stroke, he usually does not fully regain all of the functionality that he had previously.

We are beginning to look into care centers in case we need to go that route.  Really it looks like it's only a matter of time before that will happen.