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Dad's 87, recently widowed and has deepening dementia (vascular type, I believe), and he's starting to have what I can only call hallucinations. Examples:

- Sometimes he's sure the stereo in the living room is a computer, and how does he pull up financial records on it?

- The microwave in the kitchen is also a computer, or so he tells me.

- How does he operate the air conditioning control box in the kitchen? (There isn't one.)

- What is he supposed to do with the piles of cash on the dining room table?

What really makes this interesting is that a) he has trouble finding the right word to express himself, and b) he's stuttered his whole life, and it gets worse when he can't express himself.

I've given up on trying to explain stuff, so I'll just tell him I'll address this (nonexistent) situation directly, and he's happy with that.

All of this is really disturbing. Is this a part of the dementia process? By comparison, dealing with fleeting memory (to the point where he forgets where the breakfast cereal is) and the almost nonexistent attention span is a picnic.

Thoughts, anyone?

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hallucinations are to be expected with late dementia . unless you want to end up being the bad guy you shouldnt correct your dad much . for instance my mother told me one day that the bike shed was on fire . she was in pretty bad shape by this time and in fact only had a few weeks left to live . i told her the bikes were safe in the front yard so just let 'er burn . the burning shed was never mentioned again .
gotta choose your battles . most arent worth upsetting the demented elder over .
re; finding the right word .
generally nouns are lost first . what happened ( vaguely ) isnt so hard to retain but names and places become difficult .
you dont need to be the " fact " patrol . dementia care is easier if you just assume the function of keeping the elder safe .
my 91 yr old aunt hears very little nowdays but we can communicate quite well with just gestures , expressions and body language .
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I would want the MD to do some bloodwork and be sure he doesn't have kidney failure, which can cause hallucinations. Plus take a good look at his medications, if he skips some and doubles others, anything is possible. Our mom often says some strange things. She is 88 with vascular dementia and the brain imaging is starting to show amyloid plaques. That means Alzheimer's could be approaching as well. Dementia is often more than one type.
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I really liked what the captain said about not being the "Fact Patrol". This is so very true. With dementia it's just not worth the fight.
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