Sustaining Elder Care – June 2026

I’ve been keeping up with the changes occurring with my dad through text messages with my sisters…my June trip to Lewisville is still a week away.

He fell twice at night (getting up to go to the bathroom). The first time he was examined and then put back to bed…and then when the morning crew arrived, they found his bed was a mess because he had not been taken to the bathroom after he fell! The second time he fell was a few days later. His knees took the brunt of both falls (bruises…some scratches).

My sisters worked with the hospice and memory care staff to make changes. His room was rearranged to make navigation easier, and the memory care staff proactively get him up to use the bathroom at night. He hasn’t fallen again….so perhaps the changes are sufficient for now.

His eyesight has been failing and now he apparently is totally blind – cannot see light. He can’t articulate the change, but events have helped us conclude that it has happen. For example, my sister discovered him in the bathroom facing the back of the shower when she arrived one morning; fortunately, his walker has a seat, and he had thought to sit down. He told her there was nowhere for him to go! The combination of dementia and blindness is probably an insurmountable challenge for him; his blindness is a change, and his mental confusion makes it impossible for him to learn ways to deal with it.

The memory care staff try to include him in activities that he previously enjoyed just a few months ago. They put him in a wheelchair for a live music event, but he slept the whole time.

My sisters have commented that he is sleeping more (his sleeping had already been increasing before the falls). There are times when they visit that he is asleep most of the time now.

We all think he is winding down…and are thankful that when he is awake, he is courteous even when he is frustrated that his body will no longer work well enough for him to move about easily. He still enjoys frozen desserts (ice cream or lemon ice)!