Where Did My Dad Go?

 It was not much of a shock when we were told about Dad's diagnosis. We knew that he was really struggling with conversations. We also knew he was having difficulty driving. When he had an accident both mom's and my first question was 'Did he cause it?' I guess we both hoped it would be caught by the police and that would start the process. That did not happen - Dad was not in the wrong in the accident, although we are not sure what had caused the problem.   I finally made a phone call and asked for some help. I am not sure of the sequence of events but I know it started with a phone call. I contacted LHIN (Local Health Integrated Network) and they arranged for someone to visit my parents in their home to test dad. The tester recommended that dad stop driving (she could not take his license - only the doctor could do that) and sent the report to the doctor. When we saw the doctor, who came to my hometown from a larger centre, we were given a diagnosis of Alzheimer's...

 My Father has Alzheimer's. He was diagnosed Five years ago but as I look back we have seen signs for many years.  I ignored the signs and refused to disrupt  my family's life. It was a huge mistake, I am  paying the price now as we attempt to place Dad and Mom is struggling to deal with him at home. We were a typical Canadian family. Dad worked as an electrician in a Chemical Mill, Mom as a meat clerk in a grocery store.  I was an only child and sailed through life freely not worrying about much. I got a good education and had an entire career as an educator. I got married to a wonderful supportive woman and have three wonderful children. I am now retired from my career and a full time caregiver for both my parents.  As I look back there are a number of things I should not have ignored that may have helped in my journey. A few years ago we started to see Dad struggle with driving his car. Dad was involved in an accident 14 years ago and when the police inf...