Vascular dementia and heart disease

[Channelite2004]

Hi Everyone,
My Husband was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia 6 months ago, his short term memory was not as good as it had been so he had am MRI and CT scan which showed multiple hyperintense white matter lesions in both cerebral hemispheres consistent with small vessel disease.

He had a quadruple heart bypass 20 years ago and another heart attack 8 years ago and last year he started to suffer with angina, which is now temporarily under control with a new medication and increased doses of several of his other medication, but we have been warned that his arteries are heavily diseased and at some point his vein grafts will fail and there is nothing else they can do.

The mental health advisor explained that because his heart and arteries are not functioning properly his brain is not getting enough blood and oxygen therefore gradually dying which has caused the Vascular Dementia, therefore the dementia will most probably not end it, but it will be a stroke or heart attack.

Has anyone else had a loved one go through this, our lives are just on hold at the moment.

 

[jennifer1967]

My husband has vascular dementia. It started as AF then clot in the heart which led to a tia. Basically the blood vessels narrow leading to reduced oxygen leading to damage in the brain. He is at risk of strokes and further tias. He has COPD to add to the mix but I'm not waiting around for what might happen, we live life a day at a time and not worry about the future. To be honest, he could be run over crossing the road, we don't know so why worry about something that might happen or not.

 

[Dunroamin]

Please DO NOT PUT YOUR LIVES ON HOLD. LIve in the moment, it may be the only time you have.

Hugs

 

[SherwoodSue]

Hello.

Yes this is familiar. We are four years in. Strokes, blocked arteries. Atrial Fibrillation and the same brain changes on MRI.

I am sure you would like to know what the future holds exactly. It’s natural. We all do. The experience of people with vascular dementia varies enormously. Folks with Alzheimer’s tend to die of the disease in time. People with vascular dementia tend to die with it. In other words the problems with vascularisation that cause the cognitive issues may actually cause the person death.

As I say we are four years in, mum managing at home living independently with support.

Five years life expectancy is an average.

What would you do if life was to chug along for the next nine years ? What would you do if you knew a crisis was on the horizon in the next year?

All you can do is prepare practically, LPA , Attendance Allowance, RESPECT form etc and then just get on with life as best as you can in the here and now

Best Wishes to you all

 

[Channelite2004]

My husband has vascular dementia. It started as AF then clot in the heart which led to a tia. Basically the blood vessels narrow leading to reduced oxygen leading to damage in the brain. He is at risk of strokes and further tias. He has COPD to add to the mix but I'm not waiting around for what might happen, we live life a day at a time and not worry about the future. To be honest, he could be run over crossing the road, we don't know so why worry about something that might happen or not.

Thank you Jennifer

 

[Channelite2004]

Please DO NOT PUT YOUR LIVES ON HOLD. LIve in the moment, it may be the only time you have.

Hugs

Thank you

Please DO NOT PUT YOUR LIVES ON HOLD. LIve in the moment, it may be the only time you have.

Hugs

 

[Channelite2004]

Hello.

Yes this is familiar. We are four years in. Strokes, blocked arteries. Atrial Fibrillation and the same brain changes on MRI.

I am sure you would like to know what the future holds exactly. It’s natural. We all do. The experience of people with vascular dementia varies enormously. Folks with Alzheimer’s tend to die of the disease in time. People with vascular dementia tend to die with it. In other words the problems with vascularisation that cause the cognitive issues may actually cause the person death.

As I say we are four years in, mum managing at home living independently with support.

Five years life expectancy is an average.

What would you do if life was to chug along for the next nine years ? What would you do if you knew a crisis was on the horizon in the next year?

All you can do is prepare practically, LPA , Attendance Allowance, RESPECT form etc and then just get on with life as best as you can in the here and now

Best Wishes to you all

Thank you Sue

 

[sue2108]

Hi Everyone,
My Husband was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia 6 months ago, his short term memory was not as good as it had been so he had am MRI and CT scan which showed multiple hyperintense white matter lesions in both cerebral hemispheres consistent with small vessel disease.

He had a quadruple heart bypass 20 years ago and another heart attack 8 years ago and last year he started to suffer with angina, which is now temporarily under control with a new medication and increased doses of several of his other medication, but we have been warned that his arteries are heavily diseased and at some point his vein grafts will fail and there is nothing else they can do.

The mental health advisor explained that because his heart and arteries are not functioning properly his brain is not getting enough blood and oxygen therefore gradually dying which has caused the Vascular Dementia, therefore the dementia will most probably not end it, but it will be a stroke or heart attack.

Has anyone else had a loved one go through this, our lives are just on hold at the moment.

My husband had AF, had a heart attack 2009, has had 3 massive usually fatal haemorrhages, diagnosed with vascular and Alzheimer’s feb 23….i take one day at a time, try to make every day as nice as I can while I can. We live in the moment and he enjoys the moment even though he forgets straight away. But I also plan ahead by booking shows, little breaks (refundable if necessary) so I have things to look forward to. Last year I didn’t think we’d get a summer holiday or our annual post Christmas mini break … but we did and we’re off next week for this years summer holiday. We even had a few days in Tenerife though the insurance was outrageously expensive.
Live life to the full as much as you can - make memories for you
Hugs to you

 

[Channelite2004]

My husband had AF, had a heart attack 2009, has had 3 massive usually fatal haemorrhages, diagnosed with vascular and Alzheimer’s feb 23….i take one day at a time, try to make every day as nice as I can while I can. We live in the moment and he enjoys the moment even though he forgets straight away. But I also plan ahead by booking shows, little breaks (refundable if necessary) so I have things to look forward to. Last year I didn’t think we’d get a summer holiday or our annual post Christmas mini break … but we did and we’re off next week for this years summer holiday. We even had a few days in Tenerife though the insurance was outrageously expensive.
Live life to the full as much as you can - make memories for you
Hugs to you

Thanks Sue