I don't know what kind of dementia my 91 yo mum has. She would never allow us to take her to a Geriatrician or even discuss it with her GP. She was hell bent on remaining in denial by not addressing her memory issues. Until last October she was even driving a car.
But symptoms started about 3 years ago. Firstly she was unable to make a decision, then she started hiding things and forgetting that she had. She became very paranoid and thought she was being stolen from. She claimed things were disappearing that she'd given away or sold years before. Certain events had gone from her memory. She'd imagine all sorts of strange stuff at night ie people tapping on her window when she is almost stone deaf; the woman next door on the other side of a garage playing music all night. But the most telling thing was that she could not grasp any new information. 18 months ago the remote control on her car started playing up and would not always open the car and disable the immobiliser. We had it checked out, replaced the battery and assured her it was nothing but the remote. She simply had to press it twice sometimes.
She simply could not remember or understand that she had to do this. It was impossible to get through to her. In fact any new information about anything was immediately forgotten. She told me her microwave was in the garage and yet she used it every day.
The surprising thing is that she speaks quite coherently and quite fluently and with animation. She talks about the distant past with enthusiasm and clarity and her deafness and poor eyesight seem on the surface to be her main disabilities. For this reason she fooled my brother until recently into believing she had no significant dementia. He argued constantly with me.
Now she is in a nursing home and while she still has no language problems, she has no understanding of how the place is laid out. She seems to think it is several different houses instead of one large building. She thinks there is a street running through the middle. She walks from her room to the dining room turns right and into reception and has no idea how to get back. Her eyesight isn't that bad that she couldn't determine this.
She behaves bizarrely at night, wandering the corridors and having no memory of it. She says they put in a drip every day but they are just pricking her finger to test her sugar levels.
Is this symptomatic of a typical dementia patient? If so where would she be on her dementia journey? Any insights would be appreciated.
But symptoms started about 3 years ago. Firstly she was unable to make a decision, then she started hiding things and forgetting that she had. She became very paranoid and thought she was being stolen from. She claimed things were disappearing that she'd given away or sold years before. Certain events had gone from her memory. She'd imagine all sorts of strange stuff at night ie people tapping on her window when she is almost stone deaf; the woman next door on the other side of a garage playing music all night. But the most telling thing was that she could not grasp any new information. 18 months ago the remote control on her car started playing up and would not always open the car and disable the immobiliser. We had it checked out, replaced the battery and assured her it was nothing but the remote. She simply had to press it twice sometimes.
She simply could not remember or understand that she had to do this. It was impossible to get through to her. In fact any new information about anything was immediately forgotten. She told me her microwave was in the garage and yet she used it every day.
The surprising thing is that she speaks quite coherently and quite fluently and with animation. She talks about the distant past with enthusiasm and clarity and her deafness and poor eyesight seem on the surface to be her main disabilities. For this reason she fooled my brother until recently into believing she had no significant dementia. He argued constantly with me.
Now she is in a nursing home and while she still has no language problems, she has no understanding of how the place is laid out. She seems to think it is several different houses instead of one large building. She thinks there is a street running through the middle. She walks from her room to the dining room turns right and into reception and has no idea how to get back. Her eyesight isn't that bad that she couldn't determine this.
She behaves bizarrely at night, wandering the corridors and having no memory of it. She says they put in a drip every day but they are just pricking her finger to test her sugar levels.
Is this symptomatic of a typical dementia patient? If so where would she be on her dementia journey? Any insights would be appreciated.
