My wife attended her second assessment today so CT scan done, natural shrinkage due to age, consultant asked her to do memory test despite my partner saying no first time around…today she agreed to do it. The nurse we got was quite pushy and a bit patronising so not a good start, my OH was struggling with the test more out of pressure than anything else so she asked for test to stop…..my OH keeps insisting she has no issues so I guess I have to accept what she’s saying and just go with what she thinks…..what a horrible day 😢
Second assessment today…epic fail!
- Thread starter wenrho
- Start date
Hello @wenrho
I think the scan will have told the medics all they need to know. My husband was told he had brain shrinkage and the consultant went on to say he had Alzheimer`s.
That was in 2005 and a lot has been learned since then. My husband had diabetes so I now think he might have had mixed dementia, Alzheimer`s and vascular dementia. It makes little difference. I doubt he would have had any beneficial drugs of treatment if he had been diagnosed today.
I think you are right to go along with whatever your wife says and thinks, within the margins of her own safety.
Have you seen the thread in the following link? It`s a great help.
forum.alzheimers.org.uk
I think the scan will have told the medics all they need to know. My husband was told he had brain shrinkage and the consultant went on to say he had Alzheimer`s.
That was in 2005 and a lot has been learned since then. My husband had diabetes so I now think he might have had mixed dementia, Alzheimer`s and vascular dementia. It makes little difference. I doubt he would have had any beneficial drugs of treatment if he had been diagnosed today.
I think you are right to go along with whatever your wife says and thinks, within the margins of her own safety.
Have you seen the thread in the following link? It`s a great help.
Compassionate Communication with the Memory Impaired
The following piece was posted a while ago on DSF and made a big impression on me. It is something I have referred to time after time and tried hard to follow. We have many new members who may not have seen it before. Yesterday I posted it on another Thread but thought it might be helpful if...
forum.alzheimers.org.uk
Hello @wenrho , the testing may not have been as useless as you think - your wife's responses, or lack of, together with the CT scan will have told the doctors all they need to know,
My husband has mid/late stage Alzheimer's and recently had an assessment, which I had asked for because he needed a change of medication. He was calm, chatty (incoherently) and friendly toward the doctor, the total opposite of the way he behaves at home. When asked if he thought there were any problems, he said No, everything's OK. Which it definitely isn't.
I had already given the doctor a report of my own which detailed what really goes on at home so he knew the other side of the story. Hopefully someone has asked you about your concerns or you have been able to put your side forward? Either way, when the doctor's report came, it recommended the change of medication and various referrals .
It's quite usual for a person with dementia to present totally different sides of themselves to different people ( rather like a child who is fine with other people and saves the bad behaviour for the parents!) and to have little concept of what is happening to them.
The people dealing with dementia know what they are looking for and will have understood your wife's behaviour. In any future appointments, make sure you present your side of the story. Very best wishes for the future
@wenrho when my dad had the cognitive assessment, he refused to engage after a couple of questions, became angry & told the assessor to get out! They totally understood (he'd already had screening and scan) and recognised, as we did, that Dad responded in that way because he couldn't answer the questions.
Not engaging tells the doctors useful things too!
Not engaging tells the doctors useful things too!
Having just read all the above comments I would like to add mine. My wife was diagnosed with dementia ( fortunately for me) in hospital when she got AF. We had started on the assessment trip but it had come to a halt when they asked her if she wanted the scan . ( Scan, what do I need a scan for.) why did they ask her and not me, god knows ( i sure as hell do not). anyway, I digress, the good news is that I got out of having to worry whether she has or hasn't and we have a diagnosis. So the answer is don't worry about what your OH has just deal with what is . Sorry that was a bit long winded and i don't mean to hurt. just don't wind yourself up needlessly, you already have more than enough to deal with.
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