What type of longterm facility/community takes LO with Suicidal Ideations & Alzheimer’s?


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Dad is 87 diagnosed with mild-moderate Alzheimer’s a year ago and has been taken twice (to two different) Geri-psych units, went willingly with paramedics, for suicide ideations but refuses medication. He even wrote a goodbye letter. He sees no future, no purpose in living, at times. The Geri-psych unit did not prescribe any RX, but if they tried he refused despite my encouraging him to reconsider. He takes no prescription meds ( an antibiotic or muscle relaxer here or there but believes RX mess with your mind) and the psych unit deemed him to have capacity to make decisions, despite that he sign DOOA and HCS to me. He is physically independent and healthy, and is very lucid much of the time, but his judgment is lacking and he is restless & wanders so he had to leave IL and go into secured AL (not needing MC yet). So, not only do I have to find him yet another new place to live, I have to convince him to take drugs, or override him. I would like to hear if an anti-anxiety RX (like Zoloft or Valium?) or an anti-depressant - and which one/type (an SSRI?) worked for your LO’s suicide ideation/depression. My mother also has Alzheimer’s but was and is still on WellButrin long before-hand and 2 mg per day Diazepam/valium was added a year or so after her move to MC to reduce her agitation/irritability. What type of long-term community/facility allows LO with Alzheimer’s and suicidal ideations because Dad’s Brookdale AL is discharging him for suicide ideations (even though they have a Memory Care unit) if he won’t take RX and get stabilized.
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I am probably going to draw a lot of wrath for this reply. But having seen what my DW is going through and the toll it takes on me and the family if the roles were reversed, I would probably be seeking a facility to take my own life. This whole experience has changed my perspective on assisted suicide. I know it’s a very controversial topic. And I know it can be abused. And there’s a whole religious aspect to taking one’s life. I’m just putting this out there because we’re all in this big boat together. I don’t know if anyone else has ever had these thoughts I’m sure they have. Now having said all that would I have supported my wife and making a decision like this – probably not. I would’ve told her just what you’re telling your dad which is we’ll take care of you.
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I understand my Dad’s position, and I would have the same position if diagnosed with ALZ, not wanting to live through the worst of it and not wanting to put family through that, and I am a proponent for medical-help-in-dying. Problems are: 1) he isn’t that bad off yet, he is still physically fit and able to get out and do things and have conversations (albeit slow), 2) every state that offers it requires residency unless I fly him to Zurich or Final Exit Network can help (and we have to start the process now while he has some competency), and 3) while he is deemed suicidal, the ALF is requiring 24/7 private aides for him….well he literally cannot afford to live more than 9.7 months at that expense!! Which means if he doesn’t get stabilized and the ALF doesn’t drop the 24/7 requirement, he has to move yet again (four times one year) (which will set him back) presumably to go to a MC that has skilled nursing - provided I can find one that will accept Alz with suicidal ideations. Anyone know of a state that offers medical-help-in-dying that does not require residency? I am going through the list on Compassionate Choices website, thought I had found one in Montana, but other sites said Montana does require residency. We are in Florida and they pulled the bill this year :(. The hardest part is knowing he desperately believes in it and can only enjoy life now if he knows there is an option for a dignified death when the time comes.
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Commonly Used Abbreviations
DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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