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[quote=Anonymous]My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's this past winter at age 68, although my husband and I had strongly suspected for at least a year, if not longer. My Mom also suspected, but was reluctant to raise the concern with my father. Thinking back on things, the signs were subtly there for at least 5 years. Push came to shove after my Dad had several psychotic episodes while on travel abroad, likely brought on by jet lag, leaving him in tears. When they returned, my Mom got my Dad into see a couple neurologists, and both have confirmed an Alzheimer's diagnosis.

He seems to be declining rather fast; this week he has had several episodes where he no longer recognizes my Mom, asks her who she is, and when his wife is going to be returning home.

Despite all this, he is continuing to drive alone, and this worries me greatly- for himself and for others on the road. He has hit 2 deer in recent years, and now his car is running poorly for some reason according to my Mom. I suspect this is all due to poor reaction time/lack of maintenance on my father's part, due to his Alzheimer's.

I raised my concerns with my Mom today, and was quickly shot down; I was told not to lecture her, that all he does is drive locally where he's familiar, and there was only so much she could handle in a given day.

How is it best to approach this with my Mom? Perhaps my timing was off, but my Mom often likes to pretend everything is okay b/c she doesn't want to deal with the reality of the situation. You often have to wait for her to bring up a topic before it can be discussed, b/c she isn't emotionally ready otherwise and it ends poorly. I know this isn't how she envisioned living out her golden years, but my Dad's continued driving is an issue I don't feel like can wait until my Mom gets her head wrapped around it. I recognize it's going to be difficult for my Dad to no longer drive, but I feel like if it waits, he is going to harm himself and possibly someone else.  I've seen enough of his struggles that I wouldn't feel comfortable being in a car with him driving, let alone letting him drive around my children.

Any one else deal with something like this with their parents? Any advice on how to move forward? [/quote]

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