Saturday, March 20, 2010

Alzheimer's and driving don't mix

One of the things my mom and I worried about (needlessly, actually) was how we were going to get my dad to stop driving.   A car salesman most of his life, my dad loved cars, loved to drive.   We used to take "Sunday drives" that lasted a couple of hours when I was a child, just wandering the state before heading to Grandma's for dinner.  Once we saw a small plane crash.  Another time I swear we saw a UFO.   My parents thought it would be educational to park beside a cow field and watch a cow give birth. (Ugh.)
My dad was no dummy and he was one of the rare ones who accepted that he was mentally impaired and did not fight it most of the time.  He "got" that he had problems doing things.  He might get angry when he discovered he couldn't do math anymore, but he would stop trying once he knew that was gone.
On his own, he slowed down how much he drove and where he went.  He only went to places he already knew how to get to and if he was with my mom, she drove (which NEVER in my life had happened before--my mom only drove when my dad wasn't in the car).  Eventually he stopped going on Route 5 (taking a hugely convoluted route to my house to avoid it) and started walking to a few places that were really close.
One horrible day my mom got a phone call at work (just a few months before she had to stop working to be with my dad full time).  My dad had gotten into a car accident and fled the scene.   It was his first, and only, car accident.  He was going to Agway to get bird seed and I think something for the garden.  At a stop sign, he pulled out and hit someone and just kept going.  I think he panicked.  He didn't really "flee"--he just drove to Agway, where the cops caught up to him.  The clerk who waited on my dad every week came out and talked to the cops, and they managed to get my mom's work number and call her, and she left work to go there, and my dad didn't get charged once the situation was explained by the clerk and my mom.  It was just a fender bender, no one got hurt.  Thank all the gods.   My dad never drove again.   We did not order this, he decided on his own.  About six months later, my dad announced that he was selling his truck to his best friend's son.  If he missed driving, he never said.
We were grateful that he didn't hurt anyone and that we didn't have to fight him or lie to him to get his keys.
So I'm not at all surprised that Healthday said recently that people who have been recently diagnosed need to be monitored very closely when they drive, although Healthday seems more concerned that dementia patients will get lost than that they will hit someone.
(A) study of Alzheimer's patients suggests the risk of getting lost -- even on familiar streets -- may be greater than once thought. Even with early dementia, there may be no safe period behind the wheel because the disease is unpredictable.
And just think how many people don't get diagnosed promptly. I am sure, I know in my heart, that my dad was impaired for years and my mom and I were in denial.
But the study only looked at MISSING drivers--not car accidents. I think some reevaluation is needed to look at other dangers as well.
Of 207 drivers with Alzheimer's who went missing while driving, 32 died and 35 were found injured, the research showed. Another 70 were not found at the time the data was analyzed. Some had driven for almost two days and covered more than 1,700 miles while lost. Most had set off on routine trips....
The Alzheimer's Association offers a web-based program called "Comfort Zone" that families of Alzheimer's patients can use if the person can still drive safely in familiar places. The driver agrees to limit driving to a "comfort zone," and a global positioning system (GPS) monitors driving. If the driver leaves the area, the family is notified in real time.
(image sourcearticle sourcearticle screenprint.)
driving with Alzheimer's

15 comments:

karen said...

OMG!! very scary. Thank god he was not hurt or no one else. We did the same with my mom. We were in denial for yrs. Great info . And I hope the word gets out. May I post it on my blog next post .

caregiver ca said...

I glimpse your post. I am contented. Thanks for sharing.

stephanie said...

hello
i can't believe that i didn't come across your blog before this.
i think that you're doing a great job and i hope you keep blogging.
my grandfather suffers from AD. he is 77 this year. :(

ladolceliving said...

Your father is a very wise man. You should be very proud.Living with a parent who has Alzheimer's Disease is heart-breaking. Knowing that they can no longer do the things that they love. Worrying on how the disease will progress. Worrying that you may not be able to do everything that could ensure their safety and well-being.

Edwin said...

Yikes - thank god it wasn't a catastrophe, and that he had the wherewithal to stop driving on his own. My grandfather was not nearly as happy to stop driving - even though he'd wrecked his car and badly damaged another person's. He felt we were all conspiring against him, that there was nothing wrong, etc. Just made it even harder and sadder to take the keys away from him - it was for his own good, but he just couldn't see it that way.

Carlyn said...

This is something I think many people are very concerned about, it can be difficult to tell when the right time comes to stop driving (without an accident like this occuring)

JRH said...

This is amazing, truly amazing nobody was injured seriously.

Stefanie O. said...

This scenario sounds all too familiar! I recently lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's as well. We had many similar frightening experiences with her driving in Los Angeles of all places. My grandmother also got lost quite a bit in the last year of her battle. There was never anything too serious that occurred, but one time she did end up in the hospital and couldn't tell anyone any of her medical history because she was too confused! We finally got her this thing called invisibleBracelet that she could carry in her wallet and could provide hospital/EMS staff with the pertinent medical info that we had loaded to the pin number on the card so that she didn't have to remember any of the drug names or anything herself. I'm not explaining this too well, but check out their site: invisiblebracelet.org. It's a pretty neat program and could work wonders for the Alzheimer's community. Take care and God bless!

Johnny O'Neil said...

Wow, I cant believe that. It must be hard to deal with this disease. I would have a hard time too in his position. Best of Wishes :)

Cheryl K. said...

I just found your blog today as I sought information about dialysis for Alzheimers patients. A doctor wants to put my 82-year old dad on dialysis; he's had chronic polycystic kidney disease for years. Late stages AD. . ... Wow, reading all these posts make me feel like you've all lived my story the last few years. I'll check back often. Feels like I've found a new home with y'all! You can see a glimpse of my dad at http://act.alz.org/goto/dickcrofoot.

Anonymous said...

My father got lost going to the store he had gone to hundreds of times before. But this particular time there was construction. He had to go out a different exit then he usually used and that was all it took to get him mixed up. Dad ended up 2 hours away. It was 10:30pm when we finally got word that he was fine. We were lucky because he did realize that he was not capable of driving after dark. He pulled off into a NH rest area that had a store. The clerk called the police because he looked a bit disoriented. This was at 9pm it took the police 1 1/2 hours before my Dad would tell them his name or where he was from. Dad was very embarressed and did not want his family to know what he had done. Unfortunately, he did not decide on his own to turn in his keys. We asked the Doctor to inform the registry, he wouldn't. I called the Registry of
Motor Vehicles, they told me to call our insurance company. The insurance company told me that my father should turn his license in himself. That was not going to happen. I was shocked that no one felt it was important enough to help us. We eventually took the keys away but it was not an easy task. I'm not sure he ever forgave us for that. Once someone is diagnoised with Alzheimer's there should be steps put in to motion that would help the family deal with the responsibility of taking the keys.

family resource network said...

Hi, i work for the Family Resource Network in Brick, New Jersey. We are a non profit organization supporting those with developmental disabilities and their family with resources.

We are having a National Caregivers Conference on October 26th, 2010 in iselin, NJ. Please check our website out to attend and for more information: www.nationalcaregiversconference.org

If interested, please post this on your blogs so we can spread the word! Thank you!

sassysue said...

You're amazingly lucky that your dad allowed someone else to drive. My dad was a total gearhead and we always had at least 6 cars he was working on at a time. He was always "the driver," so it was a daily battle for my mom to take the keys away from him. It was so hard for my mom. Every day explaining that he wasn't competent (I'm sure she said it in a much nicer way than this) to drive. Sometimes mom just didn't want to fight with him every time about it. There was only one time when he got lost and drove around for hours. Eventually he wasn't able to walk, so that was the end of that.

Women's Health Daily said...

Wow, this is scary. It really illustrates how difficult it is to live with Alzheimer's.

Bill Tymoszczuk said...

You might be interested in checking out Signs to look for in Alzheimer's