The driving incident described in the previous post was a landmark event. This very intelligent and proud man gave up the freedom of his car for the rest of his life. But there were other first signs.
On another visit home, I saw him put a cup of coffee in the microwave to warm it up. He set the timer to 5 minutes.
Dad had said the same two sentence prayer at mealtime, at every evening meal, for the last 20 years. One evening he started, “Our Father in heaven, please bless this food you have given us . . . .” After the odd, awkward and embarrassed pause, he gave a short laugh.
“I guess I lost it.”  Mom has said the prayer ever since.
Dad’s major decline came soon after surgery for a hernia. He seemed to experience delirium for a couple of days, at one point ripping out his balloon catheter in a bloody mess. This may not be a coincidence. It is not unusual for there to be a “trigger event” for Alzheimer’s. Some research has implicated a particular anesthesia used in surgery as one such trigger. It is called isoflurane. Elderly patients who suffer delirium after surgery are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. It seems to provide a boost to the disease for those patients with a genetic predisposition. I haven’t kept up with this research, but I urge you in the strongest terms to review more recent research and to discuss with your anesthesiologist the use of alternatives to isoflurane in surgery for your aging loved ones.
Reference: Boston Globe article “Breaking through delirium: Hospitals target a common yet serious complication among elderly patients” July 6, 2004.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/07/06/breaking_through_delirium?mode=PF
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