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My mom is showing many signs of severe cognitive decline. Her sentences do not always make sense, she is losing weight, long term memory is severely compromised, however, she still can go the the restroom on her own, dress and undress, button her blouse and feed herself. Can severe cognitive decline or end stage patients still have these type of abilities? It seems to conflict with all that I read about later stage symptoms yet she has many of the signs of severe decline. Thank you friends, for your continued guidance.

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Hello, I experienced exactly what you are going through with my Mom..

She could dress herself, toilet (for the most part), could chat a bit w MC staff/PT, feed herself, knew me til the end. Yet, only recalled a childhood home(nothing from her adulthood), no additional sequential reasoning, had short term memory loss. Her MMSE scored as moderate then, later, severe dementia.

We know are Moms the best and you’re doing the best for her out of love..Definitely not a ‘textbook’ disease with hard/steadfast stages. ❤️🙏🏻 to you & Mom
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Msblcb Sep 2022
Thank you so much!
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Msblcb: Perhaps what you're seeing in your mother is the fact that she will have some bad days, followed by some possible good days. Hugs sent.
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It is a fluid situation and decline can be slow or fast................you never know what you're gonna get until it runs over you. Prepare for the future before it is on your doorstep.
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Have your mom's memory assessed with a social worker often to find out the level of dementia she is at.
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My father is exactly the same:
long and short term memory are severely diminished.
he doesn't remember if he did something just a few seconds ago (like checking his banking account, one of his obsessions).
however, except for physical limitations, he is able to dress and clean himself, to feed himself (yet he puts tantrums because he doesn't like eating).
on the latter years, he was doing translations and he is still able to translate but he doesn't remember how to type.
all this has had a severe decline in just a few weeks.
I wish you a gentle relationship with your mom.
I have to acknowledge that, since my father is still able to hold a conversation, his dementia comes out as stubbornness or just plain nonsense and I tend to loose my patience quite easily.
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My mother is similar. She's 95 with mid-stage dementia and is able to walk with a walker. Her mental status swings from total delusions to mild confusion. She still gets physical therapy each week.

Her physical therapist told me that most of her patients who are similar to my mother cognitively are in a wheelchair, but my mother has no co-morbidities.

The only medication she takes is a thyroid pill. Her vitals are normal and her heart is strong. She has a very strong grip.

She has the gusto to constantly yell my name - all day long - hundreds of times a day. Yelling like that exhausts me.

So, my mother is also not following the spectrum of dementia in my opinion.
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Dementia affects everyone differently. Be happy that your Mom can still do many things for herself! Take it day by day and let her do anything that she can do for herself, for as long as possible. It sounds like she should not be leaving the house without someone with her. Have a plan in case her care gets to the point where you cannot do it alone. Her mental abilities and physical health may decline as she ages. My mother eventually "forgot" how to walk and eat and she had to be fed. It took 2 people to transfer her to a wheel chair if she was not assisting. Your basic options if this happens are having in-home caregivers to assist, or placing your mother ina memory care facility. Much will depend on her finances. Get connected with a local social worker to discuss her options. Much depends on her finances. Hopefully all of her paperwork is in order and she has set up powers of attorney for medical and financial matters, has a living will with her advance medical directives so that you know her wishes, and has a will, if she has assets. If she is no longer able to sign legal papers, it's too late to do this, and you should ask the social worker about getting guardianship. All the best to you both.
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kingbarkus Sep 2022
Nancy, my 91 yo mother is now in the shape you described about your mother. Mom is in assisted living but not in memory care. Mom is showing signs of decline. Asking incoherent questions and falling out of bed. I have her scheduled for s doctor appointment next week. Pardon my indelicacies but what rate of decline am I looking at? Everyone is different it seems and this is tearing me up. Any feedback would be appreciated.
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Are you sure she is suffering from dementia? Blood sugar irregularities can cause weight loss and confusion too as can thyroid issues and some B vitamin deficiencies. Has she had a physical with blood work recently?

My mother had MCI with some memory issues (most short term but some long term as short term memories were not "written" into long term) but the neurologist stated she did not have dementia (problems thinking). Mom remained reasonable in contrast to my father with vascular dementia who was very difficult to cope with at times. For example, Mom stopped driving when asked with a reason. Dad claimed he could drive as well as ever even after he had rear ended a car and gotten lost.
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Msblcb Sep 2022
Hi. Thank you. Yes, I do blood work every few months. Her thyroid is normal with medication and she has a b12 shot monthly to keep her b12 stable. I thought perhaps she had an UTI issue but that was ok as well. But, those are good reminders to continue reviewing her blood work for any changes. I appreciate the input so much!
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Just echoing that the stages are not set in stone and are just what I consider guidelines to categorize people into the stages so we kind of know what to expect. But it's different for every case and different from moment to moment with our LOs that have dementia. It's a roller coaster rider. I'm always surprised when my mom has something really lucid to say. And then asks me 3 times in a row which caregiver is coming and at what time. It's baffling but it is what it is. I guess we can't get hung up on the things that don't make sense or don't fit the "stages".

Good luck.
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I was baffled by "stages" and other terms to describe "where" my Husband was in the dementia journey. He was non verbal when he should have been able to talk. He was eating by himself when according to "stages" he shouldn't have. And I could go on.
Dementia and the damage it does is different for each person.
Rejoyce in what she can still do, mourn what she has lost, accept that she will continue to lose bits and pieces and be prepared to help her manage as best as you and she can.
I learned a LOT caring for my Husband. Do I wish that things had been different, you bet! But I am grateful for what I did have and I was able to care for him.
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My mother has never fit the description of a single “stage”. By most definitions she’d be late stage or stage 7, as she has lost almost all psychomotor skills. She has difficulty swallowing. Interestingly, she is still very articulate and will talk your ear off. She’ll tell me how she’s tired because she spent all day yesterday at the fair with someone dead for decades. Rich, detailed stories. Not sure if she even knows her own name anymore.
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Everyone has different symptoms with late stage dementia (moderate, too), and those symptoms are not linear. In other words, they come & go. What mom is experiencing today, symptom wise, may change entirely tomorrow. Today her sentences may not make sense; tomorrow she may be as lucid as she was 5 years ago.

My mother had very advanced dementia and still fed herself. She could still button her blouse, no problem. She hobbled her wheelchair over to the toilet all day long and did her business there, cleaned herself, fell off the toilet lots of times, but by God, she 'went to the bathroom herself.' Then she'd start carrying on about 'my mother is hiding from me and I can't find her, what am I going to do???' Her mother died 37 years prior.

The one thing you can bank on with dementia is that you don't know WHAT to expect from your mother from one hour to the next.

People who are on death's door have been known to have a rally. To start speaking in a totally lucid fashion after being totally mute for years. To ask for a large meal after not eating food for weeks on end. To laugh and joke around, too, after not being out of bed for ages.

Nothing is normal about dementia, so you can't go by the book on anything. You can read until you're blue in the face, and still you won't find your mother's behavior in any of the pages you look at. Dementia is as individual as one's own thumbprint, as our dear Alva likes to say about disease in general. And she's right.

My mother was up and about schmoozing with the other residents in MC right up until the minute she felt tired and went into her bed. Then she went into a semi-comatose state and never got out of that bed again. She died one week later, having never woken up fully again. She'd been on a steady decline for a full year, really, but judging on how she was acting, I thought she'd live at least another year or two. I was wrong.

Dementia fools everybody all the time.

All you know is that you know nothing. And that's the hardest thing of all; the helplessness you feel.

Best of luck to you as you try to navigate the rockiest road on earth.
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Msblcb Sep 2022
Thank you. I have taken your advice on many things. The best advice was to live the moment. It has not been easy but we talk about how beautiful the flowers are in the garden and I let her lead the conversation with any memories. They are few and far between. Her weight is down about 10%. Her sentences do not always make sense but she can still dress herself, get into bed on her own, feed herself. I feel hopeful one day and worried the next. I suppose I will take one day as it comes. Thank you for the advice and insights. Very helpful!
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Ms, do you know what kind of dementia your mom has?

There's a saying, "when you know one person with dementia, you know ONE person with dementia.

My mom had Vascular Dementia with aphasia from a stroke. Her speech and language skills were shot, but she could assist with the mechanics of dressing, just not the planning. She knew who we all were right up to the end.

A friend's mom, with Alzheimers, confused her daughters, granddaughter and great-grandchildren, didn't recall if she'd been married or had kids, but her speech was clear to the end.

I hope others will post soon with more insight. (((Hugs)))).
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Msblcb Sep 2022
I do not know the type of dementia. I suspect vascular but she does not necessarily fit those symptoms completely but it seems each person is different. I know vascular symptoms can be related to the part of the brain effected. She knows me but does not remember anyone else in her past. The last 6 months she has had stable times and then overnight she declines. Much in a stair step pattern. The last 4 months the decline has been significant. I suppose it is one day at a time and enjoying her presence, as it is, for as long as I can. Thank you!
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