Hi Kaye,

I don't post here very often but I am always lurking. I'm sorry,
but I don't have any advice for you either...I just figured I would
pipe in that I have dealt with that frustration that you are feeling
for years (actually decades in the case of my father - 1986.) It
truly is a decision that they need to reach by themselves as they
will not listen. I could tell my dad the sky was blue and he would
argue with me until the end of time that it was purple (or insert any
other color you choose.) When my mom was still alive and fighting
breast cancer that had spread to her lungs, he would continue to
smoke in the house, dening that the cigarette smoke would harm her
already cancerous lungs. The levels of frustration just multiply on
an exponential level as reason and logic is something that just
escapes them!

All I could do is let things go and realize it's the disease and
the dementia that produces such irrational thought, and until he
deteriorates enough to be permanently placed in a nursing home (like
my father currently is), there isn't anything that can be said or
done that will change their minds on the drink :( It doesn't always
work (letting go), and there are many times still that I just end up
so furious with him and his attitude that I have to walk away and not
check in on him for a good month. It sucks!

I probably should have added this next bit in another post, but in
regards to I think it was Carrie talking about changes in behavior, I
know whenever my dad gets any kind of lung infection his behavior can
radically change. His words slur, he can barely walk, and is very
confused. Also, if he has a seizure then it can take a good week or
two for him to get back to the level that he was at prior to the
seizure. I don't know if that is anything similar to the episode your
dad is having, but I know I have seen similar behavior out of my dad.

Anyways, I don't know if my ramblings have helped at all, but I
figured I would just pipe in my two cents.

Best regards and good luck to everyone!

Dave

--- In wernicke-korsakoff_syndrome@yahoogroups.com, Kaye Wood
<apollo210c@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I took my dad for his check up with his consultant
> last week and told him about the social workers plan
> to reapply for my dads driving license. At least the
> Consultant was realistic in the problems he could see
> with that process! He asked me how much he was
> drinking at the moment...it's at least 2 litres of
> vodka and a couple of litres of cider a week which he
> then estimated to be about 80 plus units of alcohol
> (over three times the recommended rate). I asked if he
> would deteriorate quickly if he continued to drink
> that amount but continued to eat well (which he seems
> to be doing) and take his thiamine. He said he would
> deteriorate quite quickly over a period of months. I
> don't know why, but that shocked me. I seem to have
> lost all perspective on how much is too much (i guess
> was comparing to what he used to drink) because I
> didn't think, relatively speaking that that was a
> lot....
> Tried to get him to swap the vodka for cider
> today...that didn't work. Anyone got any ideas? I'm
> clutching at straws I know
> Kaye
>
>
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