Hello, I’m new to this forum and looking for advice/support.
My mother-in-law, Joan, age 92, was diagnosed with dementia around 3 years ago and, up until very recently, has been living and coping independently, in her own home, with the only symptom being short term memory loss. Until COVID she was taking a bus into her local town and getting her groceries and having a coffee in M & S, etc. Once COVID hit, she stayed with us for a while as we needed to instil in her the fact that she couldn’t just pop out and get a bus into town and go into shops etc. Once the first lockdown eased, we took her back to her home and she has been managing fairly well ever since, not going out - obviously - but otherwise coping.
My husband Julian, visits Joan once a week, taking groceries, doing a bit of cleaning etc. We have recently taken over doing her laundry as well. One of the more recent symptoms Joan has been having is a sort of brain fog (her words). When these occur (generally on Julian’s arrival but can occur at any time) she feels a little dizzy (foggy) and can’t think about anything or do anything - just needing to sit and rest and wait for it to go. If this happens when we speak on the phone (usually in response to being asked a question that she struggles to answer - ie. ‘do you need any bread/milk/whatever) we just say ‘ok just go and rest, have a cup of tea and we will phone in an hour’ and she’s ok and pretty much always recovered by then.
Just over a week ago, Joan phoned several times to say she wasn’t feeing well. we couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, so picked her up and brought her back to stay with us. She was having extended ‘brain fogs’ which included tremors in her legs when she tried to stand. we called 111 and an ambulance then took her off to A & E; Julian was able to go with her. They were there for 6 hours. Joan had a number of tests - all of which were clear , just the brain scan showing some shrinkage. Over the last few days we have witnessed these tremors increasingly - not only in her legs when thinking about standing up but also in her upper body and head. THese can go on for a short while - 10 mins - up to an hour (but intermittently, ie stopping and starting - with lucidity in between). In between these episodes she is relatively fine - she gets up and pops to the toilet, we have taken her over to the park for a walk on a few occasions; she goes upstairs to take a shower, etc.
We are now looking at live in carers and will also speak to her GP on Monday. In the meantime any feedback from members would be greatly appreciated as we are still learning about this condition and welcome any info.
Many thanks,
Zoe
My mother-in-law, Joan, age 92, was diagnosed with dementia around 3 years ago and, up until very recently, has been living and coping independently, in her own home, with the only symptom being short term memory loss. Until COVID she was taking a bus into her local town and getting her groceries and having a coffee in M & S, etc. Once COVID hit, she stayed with us for a while as we needed to instil in her the fact that she couldn’t just pop out and get a bus into town and go into shops etc. Once the first lockdown eased, we took her back to her home and she has been managing fairly well ever since, not going out - obviously - but otherwise coping.
My husband Julian, visits Joan once a week, taking groceries, doing a bit of cleaning etc. We have recently taken over doing her laundry as well. One of the more recent symptoms Joan has been having is a sort of brain fog (her words). When these occur (generally on Julian’s arrival but can occur at any time) she feels a little dizzy (foggy) and can’t think about anything or do anything - just needing to sit and rest and wait for it to go. If this happens when we speak on the phone (usually in response to being asked a question that she struggles to answer - ie. ‘do you need any bread/milk/whatever) we just say ‘ok just go and rest, have a cup of tea and we will phone in an hour’ and she’s ok and pretty much always recovered by then.
Just over a week ago, Joan phoned several times to say she wasn’t feeing well. we couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, so picked her up and brought her back to stay with us. She was having extended ‘brain fogs’ which included tremors in her legs when she tried to stand. we called 111 and an ambulance then took her off to A & E; Julian was able to go with her. They were there for 6 hours. Joan had a number of tests - all of which were clear , just the brain scan showing some shrinkage. Over the last few days we have witnessed these tremors increasingly - not only in her legs when thinking about standing up but also in her upper body and head. THese can go on for a short while - 10 mins - up to an hour (but intermittently, ie stopping and starting - with lucidity in between). In between these episodes she is relatively fine - she gets up and pops to the toilet, we have taken her over to the park for a walk on a few occasions; she goes upstairs to take a shower, etc.
We are now looking at live in carers and will also speak to her GP on Monday. In the meantime any feedback from members would be greatly appreciated as we are still learning about this condition and welcome any info.
Many thanks,
Zoe
