My partner has been in care for 6 years now with vascular dementia. I have read the five year mortality rate from diagnosis is 61% so has already beaten that.
For the first two years in care he could still call me from the phone in his room; for the next two years he could still answer his phone; another two years on the home has said he shouldn't now go out any more.
He still knows who I am and who he is and can still manage to walk around the home albeit quite slowly. When I visited last he had refused to get up until I arrived at 2pm but got up pretty quick then. His food intake is right down and he has lost some weight- he is now back down to something like what his weight was when he first went into care having put on a couple of stones. Left to his own devices he does not eat much.
Is it normal to say people with dementia should not go out- even in a car with their own partner. This policy sounds very weird to me.
I would not yet describe his current condition as an 'end of life' state. How would anyone else describe the 'end of life' state?
For the first two years in care he could still call me from the phone in his room; for the next two years he could still answer his phone; another two years on the home has said he shouldn't now go out any more.
He still knows who I am and who he is and can still manage to walk around the home albeit quite slowly. When I visited last he had refused to get up until I arrived at 2pm but got up pretty quick then. His food intake is right down and he has lost some weight- he is now back down to something like what his weight was when he first went into care having put on a couple of stones. Left to his own devices he does not eat much.
Is it normal to say people with dementia should not go out- even in a car with their own partner. This policy sounds very weird to me.
I would not yet describe his current condition as an 'end of life' state. How would anyone else describe the 'end of life' state?