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SKOKEY
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Province: Bennington, NH
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Parents getting old?
My father went missing for 8 hours, but he's home and fine.
This morning at 10:00, he dropped my mother off at the Medical Arts Bldg. next to St Joe's Hospital and told her he would go find a place to park. When she got done, she couldn't find him anywhere and eventually walked home. After a couple hours she called my sister and me and we decided that now it's been 4 hours and we should call the cops and the 2 hospitals in town. In the meantime, a neighbor, my Aunt and Uncle, and myself were driving around the hospitals and anywhere else in town that he might have gone. Nothing turned up until he called the house at 6:00 to see if by any chance my Mother was already home.
What appears to have happened is he drove around the parking garage and couldn't find a spot and ended up in the hospital parking lot next to where my Mother's appointment was. He thought she was in the hospital so he went in and sat in the waiting room. He didn't have his watch and there is no clock there so he had no concept of time. He read newspapers and books and eventually thought that it must have been a long time, so he went to the reception desk to see where she was. They said she wasn't there and let him call home from the desk. Now that he knew she was home, he said he would be right home. My sister and I figured we better get over there anyway and we found him wandering around the parking garage which was nearly empty by now. We had him jump in my sister's van and we drove through 2 parking garages and 2 parking lots and we found his car at the hospital lot. I drove him and his car home from there. The cops came back just to verify that he was indeed safe and at home. I don't think my Mother will let him drive off on his own any more.
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4/11/2008, 8:37 pm
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toxiczen
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Re: Parents getting old?
it seems your mom may need to keep a closer eye on him nowadays...
---
"Love is the strongest force the world possesses, yet! it is the humblest imaginable."
~Gandhi
"it is easier to tell the truth: you don't have to remember anything"
~Mark Twain
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4/11/2008, 9:36 pm
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SKOKEY
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Re: Parents getting old?
For sure. I think his driving is OK, he just needs a co-pilot to find his way around. He's forgetting things easily now and says that the city is getting too big. My mother doesn't have a license and never has, so I doubt she'll take his keys. He never goes anywhere without her but now she knows she can't even let him park the car by himself.
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4/11/2008, 9:59 pm
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SKOKEY
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Registered: 12-2005
Province: Bennington, NH
Posts: 364
Karma: 11 (+12/-1)
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Re: Parents getting old?
Yes, we already know it's mild dementia. He's taking medication for it. We're just glad he decided to call home before missing his next pill.
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4/12/2008, 9:21 am
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Lesigner Girl
Minerva
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Registered: 11-2005
Province: SW MI, USA
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Re: Parents getting old?
I feel for you, Skokey. 
Your mom should still take the keys away from him, and only hand them to him when they are both ready to go somewhere. If she leaves the keys with him, who knows if he will think he needs to pick her up from somewhere when she's just outside in the back yard. I wouldn't limit it to driving, but probably wouldn't leave him unattended for more than a couple of hours at a time, and would keep him in sight when in public places. If he cooks, he could end up turning on the oven and leaving it on, or forgetting that he put something on the stove. Hopefully he doesn't get to that point anytime soon, but I would definitely watch for signs of it and monitor him accordingly.
Your mom should also learn how to drive and get a license, if she herself is physically and mentally capable of driving. What would happen if your dad broke something and needed to be driven to the hospital? Do they have insurance that would pay for an ambulance if it wasn't a life-threatening emergency?
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4/12/2008, 1:51 pm
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SKOKEY
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Registered: 12-2005
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Re: Parents getting old?
My two Aunts live on the first floor of the same house and are very agile and sharp and both drive. They just happen to be visiting my brother in Vegas this week. As long as they are around, which is most of the time, not much can go wrong. Until my Uncle died last year, they were pretty much running a nursing home there. They used to travel a lot so this past year, they also took a 2 week tour of the Hawaiian Islands. They want to get as much traveling in before my Father needs constant supervision.
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4/12/2008, 2:22 pm
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Lesigner Girl
Minerva
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Re: Parents getting old?
I'm glad he has a few different people looking after him who love him. 
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4/12/2008, 2:27 pm
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Lesigner Girl
Minerva
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Karma: 89 (+103/-14)
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Re: Parents getting old?
Queeny knows, because she's 14,280 years old! 
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4/15/2008, 5:32 pm
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