Hi
My Nan was 100 years old yesterday, which we tried to celebrate but it was quite upsetting as she seems in such a distressed state these days. She has over the years had problems with her short term memory, first of all she would hide bills under cusions, forget where her purse was, things like that. She was in her 90's so we expected some memory loss. She has never forgotten who were are though, her family members. She stayed at home until she was 97 but it became clear that she was not able to contine looking after herself, even though she had meals delivered we were never sure if she actually ate them. My Father moved her into a great nursing home, which she has struggled to accept. She often crys and says she wants to go home, especially at the begining, we would take her out for lunch and she was cry when we took her back because she though she was going home. She was never a very emotional or affectionate person until she got sick. Now she needs lots of hugs and affection and is very emotional, very upset allot. Now her memory is so far back she is talking about her grandmother who my Dad says she has never mentioned before. The other day she was crying for her mother. When we visited for her birthday she could only mumble incoherantly, where as before we could just about converse if my dad was there so we could stick to past events. She would sometimes come out with odd things like talking about how 'the Gerries flew over last night and it was naughty'. She also has osteoperosis, so her spine is painful as it is crumbling. My Dad isn't very good at getting information and I have never heard her being given the actual diagnosis of Alzhiemers, nor has anyone explained to me why she is so terribly unhappy. I know she is taking anti-depressants though. So I'm not sure if she has Alzhimers or not, like I said she has never had trouble knowing who we are and often asks after me in particular. I guess I just want to know does this sound like Alzhimers? She was mobile up until recently, she could get around on her zimmer frame and she can feed herself too but she is incontenet. She has started sleeping allot, she may sleep for three days at a time and we can't wake her up. She has also lost allot of weight recently, which maybe down to sleeping for days on end when she would not be eating. I'd be grateful to know if this sounds like classic alzhimers or is it something else? Is there anything we can do to make her less unhappy? I feel like in her mind she is 30 years younger than she actually is and she can't understand why she can't just go home and have the life she used to have.
My Nan was 100 years old yesterday, which we tried to celebrate but it was quite upsetting as she seems in such a distressed state these days. She has over the years had problems with her short term memory, first of all she would hide bills under cusions, forget where her purse was, things like that. She was in her 90's so we expected some memory loss. She has never forgotten who were are though, her family members. She stayed at home until she was 97 but it became clear that she was not able to contine looking after herself, even though she had meals delivered we were never sure if she actually ate them. My Father moved her into a great nursing home, which she has struggled to accept. She often crys and says she wants to go home, especially at the begining, we would take her out for lunch and she was cry when we took her back because she though she was going home. She was never a very emotional or affectionate person until she got sick. Now she needs lots of hugs and affection and is very emotional, very upset allot. Now her memory is so far back she is talking about her grandmother who my Dad says she has never mentioned before. The other day she was crying for her mother. When we visited for her birthday she could only mumble incoherantly, where as before we could just about converse if my dad was there so we could stick to past events. She would sometimes come out with odd things like talking about how 'the Gerries flew over last night and it was naughty'. She also has osteoperosis, so her spine is painful as it is crumbling. My Dad isn't very good at getting information and I have never heard her being given the actual diagnosis of Alzhiemers, nor has anyone explained to me why she is so terribly unhappy. I know she is taking anti-depressants though. So I'm not sure if she has Alzhimers or not, like I said she has never had trouble knowing who we are and often asks after me in particular. I guess I just want to know does this sound like Alzhimers? She was mobile up until recently, she could get around on her zimmer frame and she can feed herself too but she is incontenet. She has started sleeping allot, she may sleep for three days at a time and we can't wake her up. She has also lost allot of weight recently, which maybe down to sleeping for days on end when she would not be eating. I'd be grateful to know if this sounds like classic alzhimers or is it something else? Is there anything we can do to make her less unhappy? I feel like in her mind she is 30 years younger than she actually is and she can't understand why she can't just go home and have the life she used to have.