But it doesn't match the stages I'm reading about on the internet about dementia.
My 79 year old mom say a neurologist who says she has "severe dementia"...probably Alzheimers (she would not consent to an MRI). She no longer drives (DMV took away her license), has trouble with words, numbers and money, forgets how to use the phone sometimes, but is still able to cook/care for herself and keeps her home pretty tidy. Her verbal skills have gotten worse over the last 5 or so years and much worse this last year. This sounds like "mid-stage" to me....do doctor's have a different definition for "severe dementia"?
Did the doctor do cognitive testing? I would ask her/him what the severity rating is based upon. And what you REALLY want to know from the doctor is what level of care she needs.
When my mom was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment, the neurologist and neuropsych were both very firm in their insistence that she could no longer live alone.