That is the question my family is asking right now.  We are all scratching our heads, trying to come up with the answers that tests and Dr.'s can't seem to give.
My 79 year old dad, who has been all his life sharp as a tack and one of the smartest men I have known is suddenly, and i mean within the past 3-4 weeks, and especially the past 3-4 days.....  is not making any sense at all when he talks.  He believes what he is saying to be the gospel truth when we all know it is just something fabricated in his mind.
And I mean wild stuff.  For example he tells about these little black specks invading his body and he chases them under his skin, the black specks are evil.........about people turning into other people or children............when riding in a car he starts shouting out what every billboard or street sign says. Yesterday we were so concerned that we took him to the Tulsa St. John er.  Well after  some tests they sent him home.....they don't know how dad was..........they just think he is an old man going senile.  Now he does have a referral in to see a neurologist, but that is a hurry up and wait situation....
On the way home it was horrible...as soon as he got into the front seat of my sister's SUV, he immediately started trying to get the window down.  my sister locked it......but he kept prying at the button trying to get the window down because as he said---I have to do this to save you all from the devil.  If I let this down God can get in here and I can get the devil.  He would NOT let up.  He kept saying--let me do this......He was buckled in, but he was adamant about getting that window down.  He also kept hitting the lock/unlock button all the way home thinking that would get the window to come down.  I was afraid he would try to open the door but I think he just couldn't see the handle to try.  Earlier in the day he had picked the control button out of his flip phone.  He said  was after that little speck.  He also picked a hole in a christmas card trying to get at that speck.  Those were the main reasons for taking him to the er.
He suddenly could not operate the remote to the tv, or his phone.
When I was growing up-----This is the man in the neighborhood that everyone and I mean everyone called when they needed something fixed.  He and his brother started their own heat and air business many years ago.  THIS PERSON I AM SEEING NOW IS NOT MY DAD!!!
Mom texted me, my 2 sisters and brother to come up there a couple nights ago, she said Dad wanted to talk to us.  Well in between all the crazy talk, the gist of what he was trying to say was----don't wait til the end to tell people you love them, or make things right.  In front of us and our spouses he apologized to my mom about how he could have been a better husband.  He told all of us he loved us.....Now.....my Dad's love is something I NEVER doubted when I was growing up.  He was a good provider for his family, we did things together.  He just never said "I love you" a whole lot, because he was from the generation that thought that wasn't the manly thing to do but, I have always told my parents I love them, and they have always returned the sentiment.
It would be awesome to know what we are up against, but we don't. As I was praying for that this morning, I was reminded that if we knew what we were fighting, where would the trust in God be?  God has promised that He will take care of us.  There has never been a promise that we would be delivered from what ever ails us but that He would always be there to get us through whatever comes our way.  We are trusting Him is this too.  That does not make it any easier to see my Dad having to go thru this.  It is just as hard on Mom too.  As a teenager on up to my adult years I have always prayed that God would bless my parents, let them enjoy their retirement, and be happy in their later years because of all the sacrifice I saw growing up.  Our family has been blessed and will continue to be blessed even when it doesn't look like it from the outside.  We serve an awesome God!
But it is still sad to see your parent go thru something like this.
You know....it never entered my mind that my dad would lose his :-(

Ritzywife out...........................................................