Is mum moving from Moderate to severe Alzheimer’s?

[Elaine K]

Hi
I’m new to the forum. My mum was diagnosed nearly 3 years ago and was believed to have had mixed dementia for at least a couple of years prior to diagnonis(according to Memory Clinic Doctor).
I am lucky.. and managed to get her into a lovely assisted living village 2 years ago. She has a fabulous flat and I feel truly blessed, as all her carers are fantastic. She is in level 3 care, the max she can have in assisted living. I have access to a live website that the staff use and record their visit, when they call in her in for either scheduled pop ins for doing her meals etc.. or just to pop in and check on her or if she had opened her front door or pressed her pendant. I see her twice a week. Once to take her home to mine for a few hours for tea, and on the weekend I bring all her shopping and have a cuppa. In the last month I feel she may have taken a step deeper into dementia. She has always wanted to ‘go home’, but she is doing this every 30 minutes now for the last 2 weeks and wandering the halls to try to get home. She gets up a few times in the night, buzzing the carers or opening her door, and is anxious and wants to leave. Does anyone else have experience of this with their loved one? It’s just that it’s so regular.. honestly every half hour, starting from about 11 am. She’s 83.

 

[nellbelles]

Hi @Elaine K and welcome to DTP
do you think it is possible that she has an infection? Chest infection or a UTI? As this has come on suddenly..
I hope now you have found the forum you will continue to post it’s a helpful and friendly place to be

 

[Elaine K]

Hi @Elaine K and welcome to DTP
do you think it is possible that she has an infection? Chest infection or a UTI? As this has come on suddenly..
I hope now you have found the forum you will continue to post it’s a helpful and friendly place to be

Hi Nell
Yes they have checked her for UTI. They are having to change her medication from Dozepil to something stronger I believe, but I can’t remember the name of it. Apparently it responds to different receptors in the brain and helps with anxiety. She has always been fiercely independent and with Covid situation, I think she’s noticed a change in the place, no group meetings or crafts(which she was always taken to) and it is very quiet in the atrium. She also says she thinks the place is being knocked down and when she’s in another room, like the toilet or kitchen, she’s constantly whispers to herself. Most of the time she knows it’s me when I see her, but not always. I don’t think my friends and family truly understand how I feel. My husband is quite supportive really, but I worry about how she’s feeling, so full of anxiety and suspicion ALL OF THE TIME, it must be torture for her, and very tiring for her and the carers.

 

[Frank24]

It’s so sad and difficult to deal with and changes due to COVid really have hit people affected by dementia the hardest. No advice but I can so relate the constant worrying about someone else being worried and anxious ?

 

[Elaine K]

Thanks for your kind words Frank. This week her case has been moved to the mental prevention team and I have a meeting with them next Monday with mum. They have mentioned it may be time to have her in a home where she has more interaction and staff available 24/7, instead of assisted living facility she is in now. I’m worried about her reaction to being moved into a care home though. But I’ll be strong ?. Whatever keeps her safe really I suppose at this stage. Also it is bound to happen sooner or later anyway.

 

[Frank24]

Thanks for your kind words Frank. This week her case has been moved to the mental prevention team and I have a meeting with them next Monday with mum. They have mentioned it may be time to have her in a home where she has more interaction and staff available 24/7, instead of assisted living facility she is in now. I’m worried about her reaction to being moved into a care home though. But I’ll be strong ?. Whatever keeps her safe really I suppose at this stage. Also it is bound to happen sooner or later anyway.

Thanks for your kind words Frank. This week her case has been moved to the mental prevention team and I have a meeting with them next Monday with mum. They have mentioned it may be time to have her in a home where she has more interaction and staff available 24/7, instead of assisted living facility she is in now. I’m worried about her reaction to being moved into a care home though. But I’ll be strong ?. Whatever keeps her safe really I suppose at this stage. Also it is bound to happen sooner or later anyway.

If it helps, I worried about my mums reaction so much but she accepted it. She was fairly ill back in July and had been living with a 24/7 carer for a year and a half. Such a difficult decision to make but sometimes it is thff Ed only answer.

 

[Elaine K]

If it helps, I worried about my mums reaction so much but she accepted it. She was fairly ill back in July and had been living with a 24/7 carer for a year and a half. Such a difficult decision to make but sometimes it is thff Ed only answer.

So you’ve been in the same boat Frank. Thanks for sharing, it does help and I hope she is doing well . ?

 

[Frank24]

So you’ve been in the same boat Frank. Thanks for sharing, it does help and I hope she is doing well . ?

yes definitely been in the same boat. All very hard. My mum isn’t great at the moment but complicated with some underlying issues I think. And truthfully if she had declined to this extent so quickly at home I would have been able to cope or take care of her very well. I did care for her for a whole week before she went in, and it made me realise how ill she was. I think you torture yourself about doing the right things at the right time which makes the whole process worse x