Reflecting on My Father’s Final Chapter with Lewy Body Dementia

Submitted by Anonymous via Well Beings Share Your Caregiving Story

When I was caring for my Dad, who was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, there would be times when his health would need emergency attention, or the hallucinations would take over. He would be terrified of me, believing I was there to harm him. He was in the army during WWII, and on Omaha Beach on D Day, so some vivid visions would haunt him. As a caregiver, you spring into action to deal with whatever comes up 24/7, and most times, during sundowning, bad dreams, sleep walking, and medical emergencies, you find yourself shoving down what just happened so you can deal with the next emergency. For Months after losing my Dad, I found myself having waves of memories coming, as if my brain said, “ok, time to process that event”.

I realized that ….yes, that was bad, really bad, oh wow, did that happen! As I shared these memories with my brother and sister, we each had a chance to revisit our moments, good and bad, some that we had forgotten. And, we found ourselves sharing the funny, touching moments too, which helped to soften all the bad memories. Caregivers need support even after they lose their loved ones. You spend months or years just living to care for them, then it all stops. But your exhaustion, emotions, and memories don’t stop. With all that said, would I do it all over again? IN A HEARTBEAT! 

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