Morgana

My father in law had a series of strokes in Sept. and seizure activity. He seems to be experiencing paranoia coupled with hallucinatoins. His doctor has tried all available medications, with some positive results, but none have made a vast difference.

Dad is holding the belief that his wife is his lifeline, she is not even able to go to the bathroom without him wondering if she is alright. He also believes that he is going to die from something in his chest that is moving up his airway. He makes himself cough until he becomes short of breath and then panics. The doctor has done all he can to reassure him that there is nothing there, but Dad is not to be convinced.

Dad believes that he will die between 3am and 5am and has actually surrendered to death and willed himself to stop breathing. His wife used all her efforts to snap him out of it, and she is terrified now that she knows he has the ability to cause this to happen.

Dad becomes extremely distressed when his wife leaves him with any other family member - he believes that without her he cannot go on. And yet when he goes out to the respite group he has recently joined he does not seem to worry so much - the difference could be that he is doing the leaving.

Dad is also constantly worrying about his grandchildren - he believes that they are ill in someway and that their parents are not doing their job with them. I have tried to convince him that they are very healthy - my three are very fit and full of life, but he meets that with a look of disbelief.

He has developed a number of obssessions which are wearing his wife down. They are both wonderful people and very much loved, and i am looking for ideas and techniques which might help them cope better with the situation in which they now live. Mum has taken to being very firm with dad, which works in the short term, but she feels dreadful for being 'mean' to him and he then behaves like a child who has been sent to the corner. This is not good for either of them.

Thank you for a wonderful message board and to each of you who have shared your experiences. I hope that our experience might some day be able to bring a positive to someone else.

Regards
Morgana



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