Aging...it happens...let's get through it together!

 Has my husband gone crazy? He keeps telling me he had lunch with his mother, but she passed away 10 years ago. One minute, he is talking to me, and the next moment, he is sound asleep. He came into the hospital for a hip replacement, and now I feel like I am talking to a completely different person. Can someone PLEASE tell me what is going on?  Have you ever experienced this – or had a friend call you in a panic saying something similar to this? It is very possible that the spouse in this situation was suffering from delirium.  Delirium is sometimes also called acute confusional syndrome and is often underdiagnosed in the hospital setting (Cano‐Escalera et al., 2021). The confusion is often sudden, may get worse at night, may affect their ability to stay alert or pay attention, can cause disruptions in their orientation (they don’t know who or where they are), may affect their speech or even their facial expressions (Touhy & Jett, 2019). Delirium is considered the se...

 In today's world, this is more likely a future possibility than not…the time will come when, just like my parents had to adjust to bringing me home as a newborn, I will have to adjust to bringing them home as an elderly member of my family. Where they faced endless days of diaper changing and changing my clothes, I will likely be doing the same on a slightly larger child. The patience they needed to feed and bathe me even when I didn’t want what was being served or to wash my hair; I will also need patience as I try to navigate this new world of caring for them in their final days.  Right now, we are a small family of three: my husband, my son, and myself. It will be a huge change to add another member to our household. My son will have to share a bathroom that he has always had to himself. Our dinner routines will likely become more scheduled than they have been before. The shows we watch on TV at different times will likely change so that everyone has a chance to enjoy this...