Hi All
I was wondering if any of you had any experience of a loved one losing weight? My lovely father is in the late stages of Alzheimers. He has been battered by infections (mainly pneumonia) all year but in September he got a double infection, pneumonia and a UTI, was in hospital for 5 weeks and it seems to have had a massive affect on him.
He lives with me and I look after him full time and I want him to stay with me until the end. This last infection has seen him become doubly incontinent and he has practically lost his mobility (not helped by a pressure sore on his heel) and his appetite has dwindled even further. He was 10 stone 4lb in January then 8 stone 1 when he left hospital at the end of September and is now roughly 6 stone 6.
I've tried everything I can to encourage him to eat and drink and the GP and District Nurses who visit twice a week are aware of the situation but say that sadly this is quite common and there is very little I can do to change it.
He is, as the medics say, 'pleasantly confused'. He can talk but is very limited and struggles to understand what is said to him but is happy enough in his own way.
I'm worried about how much longer this can go on for. Can he continue like this for a long time ? I just don't want my lovely dad to suffer.
Has anybody been in a similar position?
Love and strength. xx
I was wondering if any of you had any experience of a loved one losing weight? My lovely father is in the late stages of Alzheimers. He has been battered by infections (mainly pneumonia) all year but in September he got a double infection, pneumonia and a UTI, was in hospital for 5 weeks and it seems to have had a massive affect on him.
He lives with me and I look after him full time and I want him to stay with me until the end. This last infection has seen him become doubly incontinent and he has practically lost his mobility (not helped by a pressure sore on his heel) and his appetite has dwindled even further. He was 10 stone 4lb in January then 8 stone 1 when he left hospital at the end of September and is now roughly 6 stone 6.
I've tried everything I can to encourage him to eat and drink and the GP and District Nurses who visit twice a week are aware of the situation but say that sadly this is quite common and there is very little I can do to change it.
He is, as the medics say, 'pleasantly confused'. He can talk but is very limited and struggles to understand what is said to him but is happy enough in his own way.
I'm worried about how much longer this can go on for. Can he continue like this for a long time ? I just don't want my lovely dad to suffer.
Has anybody been in a similar position?
Love and strength. xx