Hi, My name is Cate and I've been helping mum to live with her diagnosis for about 5 years now, although she was suffering early symptoms way before she was diagnosed. She's been in a nursing home for 4 years, having been admitted as an emergency with psychosis and then being found not to have the capacity to be discharged home.
Lately mum has lost a lot of weight, she was significantly overweight at diagnosis having been overeating for some tie (something we didn't realise was a symptom until much later). The nursing home staff tell us that mum is forgetting to swallow, she is pouching food and holding liquids in her mouth as if she no longer understands what to do with them. She has long since lost any speech that she had and I'm worried that she has gone blind. From what I've read this could mean that she is coming to the end of her life, what have other people experienced at this stage? She is 67 years old so her body is relatively young, but her seizures are becoming more frequent and harder to manage with medication.
Has anyone referred their loved one to palliative care at this stage?
Sorry for the ramble, I'm in a position where there are few people around who understand although they do care.
Thanks
Cate
Lately mum has lost a lot of weight, she was significantly overweight at diagnosis having been overeating for some tie (something we didn't realise was a symptom until much later). The nursing home staff tell us that mum is forgetting to swallow, she is pouching food and holding liquids in her mouth as if she no longer understands what to do with them. She has long since lost any speech that she had and I'm worried that she has gone blind. From what I've read this could mean that she is coming to the end of her life, what have other people experienced at this stage? She is 67 years old so her body is relatively young, but her seizures are becoming more frequent and harder to manage with medication.
Has anyone referred their loved one to palliative care at this stage?
Sorry for the ramble, I'm in a position where there are few people around who understand although they do care.
Thanks
Cate