Community Chat

[Group 5 minus 1]

Probably around the first of May. There is all kinds of red tape (of course). If the 2 doctors disagree then the 2 children /power of attorney will have to make a decision. That would be my husband (her son ) and her daughter. I will let you all know but it is a slow process.

[irishmama5]

When my Dad fell he was transfered from the hosp to a rehab facility (fx. hip) he was evaluated for dementia. Some of the questions asked Do you know your name, your parents name, siblings names, Year and Place of birth. Current President, 1st President etc. Profession. Then also asked were questions reguarding sleep patrerns, eatting. Activities of Daily Living, Do you need help bathing, dressing, brushing your teeth, combing your hair etc. Mood swings are also included in the questions. In my Dads case we knew he had dementia. With your relative her evaluation is for living placement, I think the process is similar. Good Luck.

[goodstuff]

Yes, my mom was tested years ago when she began showing signs of memory loss and confusion, and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She spent the last years of her life in memory care facilities with all of our family regularly involved, and died in 2013 surrounded by her family.

The testing was a necessary part of learning what was going on with Mom and making good decisions about her care. The doctors were compassionate and helpful. They couldn't answer all of our questions definitively, but what they could tell us was very helpful. Don't be afraid of the testing, and don't run from the realities. I trust what you learn will be helpful to you and your family.

[Financialgrl]

Another with a parent that had memory issues. We figured (as did his primary care physician) that he had dementia but as it was explained to me he'd be sent to a specialist and tested for dementia/Alzheimers. I ask a ton of questions and the specialist tried to put it into more simplistic terms- all Alzheimers is dementia but not all dementia is Alzheimers) and dementia oftentimes progresses slower than Alzheimers. Dad had the verbal testing and did okay but he also was very hard of hearing.

The specialist said the next tests would have been things like were in those old Highlight magazines for young children where you draw a line from 1-2, 2-3, etc and it would form a picture, there would be pictures of things and they wanted to know what doesn't belong, shown a picture and ask what the people are doing in the picture, etc. I was told that we all begin to lose some memory as we age but a diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimers is usually given after a compilation of things/tests - scans, verbal questioning, the written test in this paragraph, addressing the ADLs (Activities of Daily Life - can he still dress himself, bathe himself, feed himself, etc). Dad was very ill the day he was to come back for the written part of the test and died before it could be rescheduled. After what the doctor said, I figured dad probably would end up with a diagnosis of advanced dementia bc on a good day he could still some math related things.

I have 3 friends with parents in facilities and one of the things that I've noticed is that to remain in assisted living as long as a person doesn't wander and can still feed themselves, but once they lose ability for these two, they got transferred to the memory care unit of the facility.

[jubilant]

I wanted to address something else you said. You said she was a difficult person. So was my MIL but when she went into the home she oddly enough became much more meek. I think she realized that she couldn't treat these people like she did her own relatives because she was at their mercy! She was a real manipulator. We went in one day and one of the nurses said to my DH....your mother is just the sweetest thing. You should have seen the look on DH's face!!!

My mother had to get power of attorney over my dad. That is how we got dad in. In my dad's case he was threatening suicide and actually told us he had taken a bunch of pills (which he usually flushed down the toilet). He was also constantly threatening to jump into a pond and drown himself). In reality he had only taken about 3 or 4 of the pills and one was the limit so it was a feeble attempt at best We dealt with a lot of anger. He tried to run over me with his walker a couple of times. Dementia patients can get quite angry. Now that all this has been regulated and they have experimented with some different drugs....he is at a good place and no longer is having angry outbursts. He is almost back to the Dad I knew. All of his life is was know as "Happy Harold"...he is much more his old self now...although not quite as jolly as he has a lot of health problems. Most of the time he is quite pleasant. The Aricept has helped his memory so much. I think that is because he got it early in the game so to speak....Stage 1. Lexapro has helped greatly with depression. We go in every 3 months for a meeting with the staff and caretakers, nurses, physical therapists, etc.