Hi All,
I just happened across this forum and I cannot believe how many similarities so many of us have in caring for our loved ones with dementia. Just knowing that there are others out there who know what it's like is so comforting.
Mom, who is 65, had a hemorragic (sp?) stroke last May due to kidney failure. She has been in and out of hospitals and NH and rehab since then with kidney failures, a seizure from which she had to be rescusitated, and drug-resistant infections caused by the tubes in her kidneys. After her initial stroke, she was in a coma for about 2 weeks and when she finally awoke, we were hopeful that we'd get her brain functioning back with therapy and rehab. But the series of kidney failures and seizure have apparently sent her into a form of dementia that is only getting worse. It has taken this long to get the diagnosis. Now she is in an assisted living facility and like so many of you have posted, she has her lucid moments which really make me question whether we've done the right thing. She's fallen and broken her hip and is confused much of the time, angry much of the time, weepy much of the time, and lucid many times and back to almost her "old" self. She has no short-term memory whatsoever and is unable to care for herself in the least.
It is an incredible cruel and painful process to watch this disease take my Mom away and turn her into a shell of the vibrant, happy, loving person she once was. It is a true relief to find so many others here who are going through the same experiences with their loved ones.
I look forward to talking to you all through these posts.
Lori
I just happened across this forum and I cannot believe how many similarities so many of us have in caring for our loved ones with dementia. Just knowing that there are others out there who know what it's like is so comforting.
Mom, who is 65, had a hemorragic (sp?) stroke last May due to kidney failure. She has been in and out of hospitals and NH and rehab since then with kidney failures, a seizure from which she had to be rescusitated, and drug-resistant infections caused by the tubes in her kidneys. After her initial stroke, she was in a coma for about 2 weeks and when she finally awoke, we were hopeful that we'd get her brain functioning back with therapy and rehab. But the series of kidney failures and seizure have apparently sent her into a form of dementia that is only getting worse. It has taken this long to get the diagnosis. Now she is in an assisted living facility and like so many of you have posted, she has her lucid moments which really make me question whether we've done the right thing. She's fallen and broken her hip and is confused much of the time, angry much of the time, weepy much of the time, and lucid many times and back to almost her "old" self. She has no short-term memory whatsoever and is unable to care for herself in the least.
It is an incredible cruel and painful process to watch this disease take my Mom away and turn her into a shell of the vibrant, happy, loving person she once was. It is a true relief to find so many others here who are going through the same experiences with their loved ones.
I look forward to talking to you all through these posts.
Lori
