My 87 year old mom has end stage Vascular Dementia and is in a nursing home.
A month ago she had a UTI which did not improve with antibiotics so she was given three courses in total.
Her appetite was really poor during this but 8 days ago she stopped eating and hardly drank anything.
She is diabetic so the doctor reduced her medications and actually took her off insulin on Wednesday, by which time she was refusing to get up and just wanted to sleep.
On Thursday the home told me that she was 'winding down to death' and they said she probably only had days left.
Out of the blue yesterday, mom accepted a tiny milky way chocolate cake bar followed by a small bowl of ice cream and a cup of tea! After that she wanted to get up and actually sat in the lounge for a little while.
This morning she has refused all but a couple of teaspoons of food and refused to get out of bed again.
Is this common?
My mom is just skin and bones, but still 'rouse-able' so the end is not close yet, but can anyone tell me if they have had this with their loved ones please, and what happened?
Is there a chance she could 'rally round' and carry on for weeks or months even?
I hate seeing her the way she is and i'm wishing, for her sake, that the end comes quickly, then of course I'm wracked with guilt for even thinking that . . .
Thank you for any help/advice you can offer.
A month ago she had a UTI which did not improve with antibiotics so she was given three courses in total.
Her appetite was really poor during this but 8 days ago she stopped eating and hardly drank anything.
She is diabetic so the doctor reduced her medications and actually took her off insulin on Wednesday, by which time she was refusing to get up and just wanted to sleep.
On Thursday the home told me that she was 'winding down to death' and they said she probably only had days left.
Out of the blue yesterday, mom accepted a tiny milky way chocolate cake bar followed by a small bowl of ice cream and a cup of tea! After that she wanted to get up and actually sat in the lounge for a little while.
This morning she has refused all but a couple of teaspoons of food and refused to get out of bed again.
Is this common?
My mom is just skin and bones, but still 'rouse-able' so the end is not close yet, but can anyone tell me if they have had this with their loved ones please, and what happened?
Is there a chance she could 'rally round' and carry on for weeks or months even?
I hate seeing her the way she is and i'm wishing, for her sake, that the end comes quickly, then of course I'm wracked with guilt for even thinking that . . .
Thank you for any help/advice you can offer.