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She has Alzheimer's and dementia. Her home is far away and there is no family or friends locally to supervise her care or spend any time with her. She does not accept her diagnosis. Says the doctors do not know what they are saying. We've gotten conflicting advice about whether we should tell her she's never going to be able to go home or whether we should play along and pretend that someday she'll be able to go back to her place. We, my husband and I and our 3 adult children, are her only living family that is in touch with her.

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incredibly kind of you to help her in your house. hug!!
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There are a lot of things you can tell her that might make her feel better.
The doctor says when you get better you can go home.
The roof on your house needs to be fixed, you have to wait until that is done.
I can't take you today mom, I have to do some grocery shopping, do you want to come with me?
We can talk about it over lunch, lets go have lunch.

If you tell her that she will never be able to go home again it would most likely upset her and get her agitated. You want to avoid that.
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It's ok to do the pretending. Maybe soon mom. Tell her that they are doing some work on her apartment and it could take a month or two. Just stick with that type of a story and hope that she forgets about it as her dementia gets worse. Actually, did you give up her apartment?

Many do not accept their diagnosis. My mom thinks that if she were still in her home town with her friends, instead of living with me, she wouldn't be so confused, etc. Hmmmm, not really but OK. Don't fight with her about it - I just let it go. Doesn't matter if she accepts the truth.

It sounds like her living with you might be fairly new. If so, protect yourself from burnout. Get help ASAP. With whatever - cleaning the house was the first one I added. Then I've added some aids to assist with her PT to help keep her mobile. Don't try to do everything for her or you'll be running around like a crazy lady.

Good luck.
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