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My 94 year old dad with LBD has had trouble remembering words to say for a long time. I have gotten used to it and I can usually fiill in the blanks for him when he forgets. In addition to forgetting the words, his voice is shaky. He just has a hard time spitting out words. He had to go to the hospital a few days ago. He sort of 'wigged out' over the weekend and the SNF did not know what to do as this was out of character. He has no UTI and blood work came back fine but he deals with chronic leg wounds and the hospital said that it looked pretty bad so they put him on IV antibiotics. They thought maybe that was the reason for his behavior over the weekend. He came home yesterday. Since that time when he calls, his voice is clear, his words and sentences are great. I haven't heard him talk this good in many, many years but the STORIES. OMG! Yes, I know it's confabulation, but the stories make NO SENSE. It's like a total short circuit in his brain. We've traded one issue (unable to find the correct words and shaky, frail voice) to nonsense stories which he believes true. This is throwing my sister and I for a loop. I have asked the SNF if there happened to be a med change made by the hospital. I have never seen anything like this in him before. Has anyone else ever dealt with this after a hospitalization?

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There is a “condition” called hospital delirium. This might present in different ways in people who have broken brains.
Getting someone back to a normal schedule can help but it. It may take a bit of time. Also they may not return to the pre-hospital status.
How to deal with the stories...If they are not harmful, Re direct or go along. If they are bothersome try redirecting.
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Hospitalizations have this affect often. Inexplicable changes. It is exceptionally common after anesthesia as well, but any hospitalization. Your story is quite profound, in that there is this bizarre change one thing for the other. Usually there is just one or more things ADDED. Lewy's as you likely know, is known for its profound and very very realistic hallucinations. My brother would describe his as he was usually sharp as a tack, and when he got the hallucinations some part of him KNEW they weren't real. But they were ELABORATE in the extreme. A garden party out his window around a pool that wasn't there, cocktails, a guy who had slicked back black Elvis hair, short white shorts and a white towel over his shoulder. He could go into elaborate detail. An immigrant woman huddled in the corner or his room shielding her baby. Touched her and poof, she was gone. Some of this, if caused by the hospitalization "may" go away. It may not. My brother died of a leg ulcer that went into cellulitis and them to septicemia in the blood that wasn't touched by antibiotics. I am glad your Dad is better. Wishing you the best.
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Hospital delirium. My brother has been in the hospital for over a month. He thinks he's in his house, sitting at his desk, or in his truck driving. He sees his cat sitting next to him on the bed and reaches over to pet her and talk to her. I think his entire self wishes to be at home or driving somewhere instead of lying there in the bed, so creates a better reality in his mind.
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