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Sometimes I just feel like throwing my hands up! My father is 82 ,my father in law is 84, they tell more lies than I can keep up with. Sometimes I walk out of the docs office with tears in my eyes, because I don't have any idea who this person is that I am walking beside of. My daddy throws up everyday, but tells the doc that he only throws up once or twice a week? My father inlaw tells the doctor that he falls all the time, times that I have not been told of, or saw. But then fusses because they start talking about putting him in nursing home. Which may not be a lie, but he makes things out to be worse than they are.

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JustAlnLaw, one thing to remember is that our elder lose track of time. I assume your Dad naps a lot, when he wakes up he probably thinks its the next day, thus he thinks he is only throwing up once or twice a week.

My sig other who is healthy, active, still employed makes health issues way worse then it is... a headache is a start of a brain tumor.... his back hurts, it must be his kidneys. I am surprised he doesn't dial 911 for a paper cut.

Sometimes we need to go with the flow, and do a lot of eye rolling. Doctors can figure out if a patient is being honest with them just by looking at your expressions :)
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My mother has a hard time being truthful with doctors. It is like she wants them to see her as fit as a fiddle. She tells them that she doesn't feel any pain and sleeps well. I know she is in a lot of pain and wakes up often during the night. Sometimes I tell her she has to be truthful if she wants the doctor to help. She answers by saying that she doesn't feel any pain at the time the doctor asks. Well, of course not. She's sitting comfortably in a chair. (rolls eyes) I know it's a pride thing. No one wants to be seen as sickly. But then, why go to a doctor at all if you're just going to say that all is fine?
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My mom always puts on a performance, i.e. she's feeling good. I think it's just a part of her age group that she doesn't want to bother the doctor with her aches and pains. So I always make sure to set the record straight about what's going on. Now she has no short-term memory, so she couldn't give an honest account of her day-to-day health if she tried. So general cognitive decline can be another reason they "fudge" the truth.
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