Delusion/Fixation with Aphasia

apow

My dad has some sort of dementia/Alzheimer's and also has pretty significant aphasia. Within this past week he's gotten fixated on going to Lowe's. Thinks he has something there "on hold" to pick up, but can't tell us what it is. We've tried everything we can think of... We've taken him to Lowe's twice in the hopes that we could figure out what exactly he was looking for and get it. We've tried redirecting/distracting ("It doesn't look like they can find it, let's go get lunch and pick up the search another time"). Nothing seems to be working. He either temporarily goes along with it (if it's me) or he gets upset (if it's my mom). Yesterday when driving home, he got angry and tried to get out of the moving car so he could walk to Lowe's. Thankfully the door was locked. 

Just putting it out there in case anyone may have a suggestion that I haven't thought of. My next thought was to try a fib - bring something home from Lowe's and tell him that they were able to find what he had on hold. But I figured that may backfire on me as it's very likely that he does know what he's thinking of and just can't express it because of the aphasia and bringing home the wrong thing may just make him angry.

Arrowhead

I'm sorry, but sometimes they get fixated on something and nothing will detour them. For well over a year, my wife tried to walk to her childhood home every day, several times a day. Our yard had a fence but no gates, so I finally put gates up and kept them locked. She spent at least 6 more months trying to get out before giving up. I hope you find a solution, but there may not be one.

Ed1937

Apow, welcome to the forum. This is a tough disease, and I'm sorry you are dealing with it. The first thing that comes to mind is that he should ride in the back seat whenever he is in the car. The car likely has locks in the back that can be set so a child can't open them. If necessary, put something on the front seat, and ask him to ride in the back. 

You could bring something home from Lowe's, and tell him that they had his name on it, but there was also the name of another man, and they weren't sure who it was held for. That way if he knows it is not for him, he won't be so upset as if you told him it was his. They just can't find anything else with his name on it. Good luck.

apow

Yes, unfortunately we've gone through this before with my grandfather, but that was 20 years ago so my mom and I have forgotten a lot of the strategies we used back then. Back then, my grandfather's fixation was getting a car. 

Ed - That is a good idea. He has a relatively common enough name that it's possible that may work... Temporarily at least