For about a year or more, Dad lost the ability to communicate, especially his own thoughts. If you asked a clear, simple question, then he would reply "yes", "no", "OK", or "alright", but anything more was challenging and rare, and he really struggled to speak his own thoughts, those were usually gibberish-like. I had to read his body language. I had to read his mind based on our mutual experience and life together. This was especially important when, just like an infant, Dad was not feeling well, but he could not tell me what's wrong. It helped that I knew his medical history too, and that for much of his senior years, he enjoyed relatively good health with few healthcare needs.
As his nurse, I had to sort through his symptoms and make guesses just like the parents of little ones. For the most part, I guessed right on abdominal or stomach distresses, cramps, headaches, colds, etc. And on two occasions in 2017, I guessed rightly that it was time to see a doctor (at the hospital ER both times). One was related to a kidney stone; I knew the symptoms and I knew his history of those. The other was related to a hernia. He had it for years; I always anticipated it would become a problem and it did.
My point is this. Don't panic. You can do it too. Take a breath. Pause. And think through the symptoms. Use your loved one's medical history to guide you. You will make the right choices too. But above all consider this, loving care and service is always more important than obsessing with medical precision on every thing you or your loved one experiences.
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