Hi
I hope someone can give me a little bit of help and advice with regard to my mother in law? I hope I am in the correct place as this is my first post after finding this site
My husband and I believe that his mother has some form of dementia She is 66 years old and as far as I am concerned, is rapidly going downhill fast
She lives with her partner who is of sound mind (although ill in other ways) and we have just spent the weekend with them. This is the first time in many years we have spent more than a couple hours in her company and what we have seen this weekend has upset and frightened us beyond belief
We have known for about a couple of years that something 'just wasn't quite right'. She seemed 'different' and sometimes seemed to forget things or get a bit confused but nothing major that made the alarm bells ring. About a year ago we realised that things were getting worse and spoke to her partner about it. He obviously knew there was something wrong, but basically fobbed us off saying she gets a bit confused since a traumatic event 3 years ago (her son committed suicide) and that se refused to see a doctor. We took that on face value and then at Christmas my husband spoke to his brother and both of them separately spoke to her and explained that they were worried and they wanted her to see her doctor. She promised faithfully but that obviously hasn't happened and after this weekend, we realise she neeeds urgent attention.
She asks the same things repeatedly, she cannot remember where she has put anything, she is struggling with simple tasks like making a cup of tea. I caught her taking a sip out of 3 cups of tea because only I take sugar and she couldn't remember which she had put sugar in (after I found her the sugar bowl) She seems to fall asleep in the day and puts clothes on that don't match. It takes her ages in the bathroom and she cannot find her glasses, her bag, her shoes anything really. She seems to have mood swings (but not with my husband and I) and gets very frustrated. She repeatedly goes through her handbag but can't remember what she is looking for.
We are very worried but she refuses to see a doctor? What can we do? Her partner seems reluctant to contact her doctor. We believe his intentions are honourable and he seems scared of upsetting her. Can I contact her doctor on her behalf and explain how worried we are and ask them to see her? Will they do that or will that contravene something or other these days?
Sorry that this post has been so long but if anyone has time, I would appreciate your opinions.
Thank you
Ladynat
I hope someone can give me a little bit of help and advice with regard to my mother in law? I hope I am in the correct place as this is my first post after finding this site
My husband and I believe that his mother has some form of dementia She is 66 years old and as far as I am concerned, is rapidly going downhill fast
She lives with her partner who is of sound mind (although ill in other ways) and we have just spent the weekend with them. This is the first time in many years we have spent more than a couple hours in her company and what we have seen this weekend has upset and frightened us beyond belief
We have known for about a couple of years that something 'just wasn't quite right'. She seemed 'different' and sometimes seemed to forget things or get a bit confused but nothing major that made the alarm bells ring. About a year ago we realised that things were getting worse and spoke to her partner about it. He obviously knew there was something wrong, but basically fobbed us off saying she gets a bit confused since a traumatic event 3 years ago (her son committed suicide) and that se refused to see a doctor. We took that on face value and then at Christmas my husband spoke to his brother and both of them separately spoke to her and explained that they were worried and they wanted her to see her doctor. She promised faithfully but that obviously hasn't happened and after this weekend, we realise she neeeds urgent attention.
She asks the same things repeatedly, she cannot remember where she has put anything, she is struggling with simple tasks like making a cup of tea. I caught her taking a sip out of 3 cups of tea because only I take sugar and she couldn't remember which she had put sugar in (after I found her the sugar bowl) She seems to fall asleep in the day and puts clothes on that don't match. It takes her ages in the bathroom and she cannot find her glasses, her bag, her shoes anything really. She seems to have mood swings (but not with my husband and I) and gets very frustrated. She repeatedly goes through her handbag but can't remember what she is looking for.
We are very worried but she refuses to see a doctor? What can we do? Her partner seems reluctant to contact her doctor. We believe his intentions are honourable and he seems scared of upsetting her. Can I contact her doctor on her behalf and explain how worried we are and ask them to see her? Will they do that or will that contravene something or other these days?
Sorry that this post has been so long but if anyone has time, I would appreciate your opinions.
Thank you
Ladynat