- We lost my Dad on Saturday

[Guest guest]

, my heart goes out to you.

You have written a wonderful email, a testament to your love for your Dad. He

must be so proud of you. Glad you found us. Wish we had had a chance to get to

know you as you and your Dad, hope you can stay around and post a bit. I

remember when my Dad passed, all I wanted to do was tell people about him, and

my experiences with him. If you feel this way, please feel free to post here,

as I'm sure many here will be interested.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, and your Dad.

Hugs

We lost my Dad on Saturday

Sorry I haven't written for so long. Josie and everyone, I want to say thank

you for your support. I wish I had found your group much sooner. When my Father

was first diagnosed there was no information anywhere to be found on LBD.

Dad put up a great fight, the stayed with us a week longer than Hospice

excepted. Dad seemed to refuse to leave us when we were with him. He did leave

us sometime between 3:30am and 6:00am Saturday morning, the few hours my Mom

slept that night.

The good news is my sister had dream during that time, that my Dad came to her

and told her he was sorry but he was tired and had to leave her. He told her he

was going to be all right and he knew the family was going to be all right too.

My Mother was Dad's care-giver the entire time (at home) and being an ex-nurse

she kept excellent notes. Under her care he never had to go to the hospital for

any reason until last November. I guess you could say that otherwise we were

fortunate my Dad was in perfect health. I'm going to set up a email address for

her soon so hopefully she can join this group and share her experiences with

you. My Dad would want that.

My advise as a child with a parent with LBD. Keep your loved one as active a

possible. Send them to day-care. Take them out to dinner, take them to the fair

(don't lock them away), read them the paper. Feed them well. Hold them tight,

but keep them walking as long as possible. Be patient. Talk to them even if they

can't talk back. My Father always had his wits about him. The day before my

Dad died a friend he hadn't seen in 20 years came to visit, we didn't understand

Dad at that moment, but later realized he called him by name. My Father learned

how to say my name again by gurgling his words. He never forgot who were were.

He wasn't always understandable. Of course most of the time the wires were

crossed in his head and his words didn't come out, but he understood everything

I said the entire time. He knew on the last day that I asked him to find a way

to visit my sister to let her know he was going to be ok. And in my Dad's usual

style, he didn't let me down.

I don't mean to depress any of you about your loved ones, just want you to

know they know you and love you always. I just learned all the different

stages, but keeping my Dad mobile and aware we delayed the last two stages by 3

years.

Welcome to LBDcaregivers.

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