The Joys of Looking After Dad with Vascular Dementia

Caring and looking after Dad at home for 10 years after he contracted Vascular Dementia has been an experience. Given it is currently one of the most often discussed issues, we felt it was worth recording our experience in this book.

When people suffer from vascular dementia, they become totally different people. The condition soon gets hold of them, and it seems they are as good as dead because they have become totally different people. We had two options - whether to look after this stranger in our house or arrange a suitable nursing home. This is the story of how we looked after our father at our home for 10 years when he developed dementia, the last 6 years of which he was fully bedridden.

This book gives a detailed account of him, a very proud man (before he became ill) and the events which developed with time, until he departed this life. It also describes the steps we took, particularly the difficulties in securing carers to come home to help us look after him and eventually, finding one who was a cut above there rest.

Finally, it gives an account of things we could have done better and differently. This is by no means a moral guide, as circumstances will be different for other people. So, this book is about our experience with him and we hope, it will give others something to think about, if they find themselves in a similar situation.