Found out yesterday that my dad likely has Alzheimer’s. What do I do?
My head is spinning. It’s been a difficult few days. I took my dad to his neurologist appointment yesterday and she informed us that he likely has Alzheimer’s pending the PET scan results. His brain scan showed 2 nickel sized spots on his hippocampi. Which the doctor indicated a sign of the disease. He performed ok on his cognitive test overall. He’s passed the special test, he drew the clock perfectly, and he was able to count backwards from 100 by 7s, which was actually really impressive. He didn’t do well on the short term memory portion though. He couldn’t remember the objects and had trouble naming more than a few 4 legged animals. He’s actually been experiencing memory issues for a few years now and it’s been getting worse lately.
Today was especially tough because he thought the doctor told him he was dying and he started to call his friends and family to tell them the news. I had to explain that his doctor said no such thing, and that we have some additional tests before we even know the severity of the disease. I had to call and remind him of what we discussed.
He’s 73. It seems like this is happening so fast. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.