I vividly remember my father’s first hospital stay after we’d brought him to Ithaca to live near us in an assisted living facility. Dad had been managing very well in spite of a severe short-term memory loss. He was basically “on his own” at the facility where they provided him with 3 meals a day and a safe environment to wander around chatting with people, playing pool, or watching sports on TV. One winter a bad flu virus made the rounds, and when we could not lift my father off the floor where he’d fallen, Adrian and I called 911 and had him taken to the hospital. That was the beginning of the end. My father became paranoid and unmanageable in the hospital, and developed new symptoms that required him to move to a nursing home when he left. Now, years later, I see that a hospital visit is likely to worsen the paranoia and confusion of anyone with dementia or Alzheimer’s . Adrian was in the hospital for 2 days recently, and became frightened that “They will put me away if I say the wrong thing.” He even told his regular doctor that they were keeping him institutionalized against his will. One morning the nurse called me because Adrian would not take his pills. She reviewed what they were, and then put him on the phone so I could tell him it was OK for him to take them. Only then would he do so. Luckily, Adrian’s regular doctor realized he would be better off recuperating at home, and I rescued him that afternoon. He still considered his hospital stay an awful ordeal, but was gradually able to see things in a more realistic perspective.

Original Source of Hospital Stay Likely to Worsen Dementia/Alzheimer’s Symptoms