Have any of you had any experience with your elderly parent still insisting on driving? With my grandfather being at the point in his illness that he can't really drive, my grandma is insisting on driving. She is still completely mentally competent but hasn't driven in several years. She wants to start doing the driving so she is not dependent on family to take them places. We would like to practice with her to increase her comfort level with operation of the car (it's a newer vehicle for them). I suggested to my mom that maybe we should have grandma take the Mature Drivers course through one of the local driving schools.

My mom said that suggestion was made to my grandma and it made grandma angry. What I would like to know from any of you is whether or not you've used one of these courses with your own parent/family member. How successful was it? My mom's concern is that the school that offers the program is run by retired police officers. She doesn't want grandma taking the course and possibly having her "red flagged" as a driving hazard where they'll attempt to revoke her license. I think it could be very beneficial for grandma to become comfortable again with driving in heavy traffic.

This process is challenging and emotional! So glad we all can contribute to each other here in constructive ways and offer support!

My mom used to tell me about these calls. She'd take down all kinds of information and insist that they wanted me to call them back, etc. With caller id, we've told her not to answer calls unless she recognizes the name/number. If the caller is legit, they'll leave a message. If it's a scam or robocall, there will be nothing.

She got a little unnerved when these calls started coming from Private Caller. So I explained that to get around blocked calling places have taken to using private numbers and now she's ok again.

I was so happy this morning when, instead of the nod and smile she said 'Didn't quite catch all of that. Could you please repeat it?'

Now to keep it going on both our parts.

Took a day off yesterday and went up to help out at my parents. Neither one of them is in good health right now - mom just turned 90 and came down with bronchitis and dad is 93 and losing weight (not eating) and getting weaker. I went to the grocery and bought things my mom wouldn't normally buy - and dad ate every bite. Mom wants to keep him around forever and will only cook 'healthy' food. Dad doesn't like it so he won't eat - and the vicious cycle begins. The doctor finally told mom she's going to have to feed him food with 'fat' in it and not worry so much about it.

My MIL, who will be 99 in a few weeks, hasn't been eating for many months. Her doctor, a very caring woman who visits the nursing home, has begun taking her off various medications. She was thinking they might be depressing her appetite. Since then, she has stopped losing weight.

But also, since getting off some of the pills, her mind has been much sharper. She has been telling us stories, and has a sharp memory for details from long ago. She also is able to express herself better. It's been a gift for us.

This doctor did not prescribe the pills; a previous doctor did. She says we need to focus on quality of life, not quantity at this point, and taking an extra pill to prevent some heart problem is not worth it if she is in a fog all day long.