Lots and lots of praying..really. I often wanted to cry, and did. I just had to keep in mind that my dad was struggling with so much loss. Not just loss of his memory, but loss of his independence, loss of his ability to make his own decisions and then the loss of his wife, and really since his children were so far away, he really ended having to manage the loss of his children, except for me. So I had to constantly remind myself that it is hard for me to watch the man I knew to be my dad, become just a shell, it was harder for him. I could get up and walk away from the situation, he could not. I was also really blessed to have wonderful caregivers for my dad, who genuinely loved him and so that made it easier to know he was in good hands when I was not there. Finally, I found things for him to do to keep him occupied. For a while it was TV but it became difficult for him to follow what was happening. And then I got him a child's puzzle, because he and my mom used to like to put puzzles together when they were younger, and he loved it. So I kept him in supply of plenty of puzzles, none too difficult (and he would often be banging on a piece to get it to fit), but he loved doing them. And everyone from the caregivers to his fellow patients would help him with it. He was always so proud when he finished one. There were about 5-6 of them that we glued to a piece of cardboard to hang in his room. That kept him occupied and his mind off his frustration. When he was less frustrated and agitated so was I.

Hello Amy, My dad did the same and I would get frustrated as well. But then I realized that he was just trying to orient himself in some way, even though he didn't retain the information. At the beginning my dad went through a phase where he realized that something was happening to his mind and he was trying to control it and maybe even stop it. And then he got to the place where it seemed that he no longer knew what he didn't know, or so I thought. I don't think my dad ever really could grasp what was happening to his thoughts and his mind and that he could not control it, he just was not able to articulate his frustration like he did in the beginning. He tried so hard to stay on top of what day it was, who I was, but there were days he just didn't know, and he hated those days. So he would ask a question over and over trying to grasp a moment of clarity. Once I understood his frustration and maybe even his fear, it was easier to be more patient with him. Didn't mean it was any less frustrating for me, i just realized it was much more frustrating for him.