Been here for a while, but haven’t introduced myself yet.
My Granny developed dementia rapidly when already in a care home. It started about a month before the first Covid lockdown, seemingly either triggered or accelerated by a UTI. The UTI cleared up but the confusion never did and it only got worse. The last time we saw her, she was already hallucinating wildly. Her GP gave her ‘weeks or months’ to live, but she managed to hang on for 18 months. We weren’t able to see her for most of that time due to her care home being locked down. She eventually believed that her entire family had been murdered, so if we rang, she accused us of being imposters trying to taunt her, and became hysterical. We had to stop calling in the end. It was awful.
About six months before Granny got ill, my Mum - her daughter - was taken into hospital with a suspected heart attack. We’d known something was wrong for a few years, but the catastrophic hospital delirium meant she left hospital with a formal dementia diagnosis, which was refined to Alzheimer’s a few months later. Mum is now probably mid-stage, and being cared for at home by my Dad. She recognises us and is happy as long as she can see Dad. She has increasing mobility problems (now has the characteristic shuffle and has suffered a couple of falls) and doesn’t eat well. Dad’s not physically well himself, but is currently refusing any sort of help.
I have a sibling - their mother-in-law also has dementia and is about to move into a care home. We’re both local to our parents. We do what we can - which sometimes just feels like waiting for the next crisis.
forum.alzheimers.org.uk
