My father has been extra confused the last few months and yesterday was particularly frustrating. Caregiving/work interference.

My dad has dementia due to a TBI and I am his primary caregiver. His confusion comes in waves where some days are better than others. Sometimes he seems completely fine, then others he struggles to complete basic tasks like opening mail or making coffee because he gets confused and overwhelmed. Yesterday was rough.

My dad is visiting my sister next month on Oct 11th and will be flying with assistance from the airline. So that visit isn't for a while, but he is very excited and can't stop talking about how much he can't wait to see her.

So yesterday I was at work while my dad was at home. I was sitting in a meeting, then he starts sending me texts asking me to call him right now because he's "here" and wants to "know where to meet." That was followed by some texts about a car rental place and him repeating that he's "here" and "please call." I immediately started to panic because I thought he'd gotten today (9/11) mixed up with his travel date (10/11) and he had somehow gotten to airport while confused. So I rushed out of my meeting, which was very disruptive because I had to make my way through a crowded and quiet space while someone was speaking. Then I ran to my office and called him, and figured out he was indeed still at home and safe. Good. It turns out he was trying to text someone else and got confused about who he was texting and the conversation he was having, so his messages were a jumbled mess of autocorrect sent to the wrong person (me).

I couldn't go back to my meeting, and this is the first time my caregiving has interfered with my work like this. That makes me nervous for what is ahead.