LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST
LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Driving a Vehicle Involves More Than Memory

On the day that I was diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies, my physician did not mention anything about driving.
Driving after a diagnosis of dementia is a personal decision.
Personally, I chose to continue driving and did so for a few months.  One day, my wife told me that she did not feel that I should be driving.
I did not challenge her….
I put my keys in the drawer and stopped driving.

Months later I told her that I felt I could drive again.
She agreed and I drove for about a year.
At this time, I realized that I needed to make a decision about whether to continue driving or not.
I decided to stop on my on.
Why did I make this decision?

I was willing to accept that I had Mild Cognitive Impairment with Lewy body disease and that there was more to my condition than just memory.
I think this is true for most types of dementia.
My memory was largely intact.  My recall had reached a point that it was taking longer to respond.
What if I needed to put on the breaks and my response was too slow?
Someone might be killed!

There were many others things that I realized could happen; and, I was not willing to run that risk.
Giving up driving is not easy….not on the person with dementia or the care partners
My decision to voluntarily stop driving was the right decision for me and my family.
©2015 Robert Bowles