Husband in rehab center-Several concerns and confusion!
Long story short, my husband has been a heavy drinker for probably 20 years. He is 55 now. He has always been in denial about his drinking and has never had plans to stop. He has a lot of health problems from this (high liver function labs, type II diabetes, chronic pancreatits). About two weeks ago, while still drinking as he normally does, he started acting strange...almost like he had dementia. Our family was on the verge of conducting an intervention around the same time. He got so sick, we had to take him to the ER..thinking he had a stroke or something because of his bizarre behavior. Turns out, he had somehow gone into alcohol withdrawal unintentionally. So...he was in the hospital for 7 days detoxing. Yesterday, he was transferred to a rehab center. I met him there to help him get checked in. He was still acting strange: no personality, very confused, bad memory, not understanding what was happening, etc. The people in the rehab center approached my husband as if this was normal and seemed to assume that after seven days of detox, the confusion, etc, should have been gone. When I told them this is not how he usually was, they seemed concerned and ordered some labs. So...now I'm stuck wondering what is going on.
The rehab center itself was the only one we could get through medicare. It is a very rough place with a terrible vibe. I am only allowed to visit my husband in a special visitation room and cannot go into his room. He is still so weak and out of it, however, that it takes a lot of effort just to get him out of his room and into a visitation area.
I'm very confused. I think my husband might have alc dementia and everyone is looking at this as if this is "normal". I cannot seem to get a clear answer regarding this. If everyone assumes this is how my husband usually is....with no baseline....how can they help him?
Should he be more clear-minded after eight days of not drinking? He acts as if he has had a lobotomy! And cannot recall normal things in his life. He still speaks about his parents as if he just spoke to them...even though they died years ago. Things like that. I'm concerned that his liver is in trouble and this is high ammonia levels? How long can this kind of behavior last while someone is in detox?
Thank you in advance.