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UTI confusion / delusions improve after treating UTI?
My mom has been telling all kinds of tall tales the past month - and retelling stories from the past that are all jumbled up - all combined with paranoia (neighbors watching every move) and accusations. We are getting her checked for UTI as I type. So if it is a UTI, will the delusions resolve? For the record, she's not…
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Angry wife
My wife was dianosed last fall with Alzheimer's. In 1993 she was in a bad horse wreck and had a bad brain injury. So we have been dealing with the effects of the head injury, and now Alzheimer's on top of that. Her father had Alzheimer's so we both have some idea of the progression of what we are going through. What is…
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Looking for placement, my mother was turned down how do I approach?
Hi, back again. I have been looking for placement for my mother near where I will be moving in April. She has been turned down for each facility in question. Reasons being POA and her exit seeking behavior. I do have POA of my mother, but it is not active as the doctors have stated she is not at the point where she is…
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A good read!
I ran across this. It is long but chock full of great info from diagnosis to care. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3159541/
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Cycling through caregivers…Elder Care Manager?
I would like to first thank everyone for their participation on this board – I have found it useful many times. Here is our situation: Mom is 87 and was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia in February of last year. My brother, who lives at home and did so prior to my mom’s diagnosis, has been caring for her. He was unemployed…
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Giving comfort while in SNF
Hi All, My mom is either in or moving into late stage Alz. She is often very fatigued and sleepy, full assist (no walking or ambulating), and still using language but it's often hard to understand and/or spoken very very quietly. Today she seemed unable to sit upright in her wheelchair - she tipped to the right and front.…
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The manic behavior. Leave it alone?
The Dr's have put mom on Olanzapine mostly for her paranoia. She is obsessed that her cousin (dead for more than a decade) was out in the carport with a suitcase stealing things. Two days ago. Always two days ago. This has been going on for months. I believe it is a false memory and not a hallucination. Regardless, the…
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Golden age of radio
I just wanted to share something that my FIL has really enjoyed since many of our LOs are from the same era. It’s a compilation of old radio shows and songs. He can’t see and we were looking for something besides books on tape and TV (which he can’t follow very well). We have the second volume, and sometimes he recognizes…
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Help, they Want to Move him to a Geriatric Psych Facility
Urgent advice needed from the group. My Father has had a number of outbursts at his MC home over the last few days. I have been working with his geriatric pysch to modify the meds to calm him down (coincidentally a bunch of family was visiting and the outbursts began after we left). Due to some mishaps at the facility, not…
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Directions for patient in war zone
First, sorry for my terrible English. Second I'm from Damascus, Syria and here we don't have proper Medicare for Alzheimer's patients. We suffered a lot because of the war. My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 7 years ago and according to what I have read and researched online, I think she is in her late stage. The…
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Critique my Technique!
Ok, here's the scene: Thursday morning, LO and my spouse drive and pickup a co-op delivery. This is the sort of activity she enjoys. Friday morning LO gets up and says, with enthusiasm, Oh, today we're going to pickup. I murmur something like, mmhumm, The weather is great today; a great day to get out.... I leave and…
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calming drugs
Dr recommended, for my wife aggression, anxiety mood swing etc. Seroquel im not sure if i want to drug her yet. I use Xanax when she has issues. Any info in your families i'm interested in your story. Verl
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adult foster care home vs assisted living facility
We moved my 80 year old mom in with us recently not realizing how impacted she was by dementia. Talking to her on the phone a few times a week the past few years did not give me an accurate picture! So here we are, 5 months later. It is just my husband and I taking care of her and we are exhausted (we both work, have two…
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A book to help you thru stage 7
Midwife For Souls. Spiritual Care for the Dying. By Kathy Kalina. This book was written for hospice workers and all who live with the terminally ill. It's only 145 pages, its an easy read. This book helped me tremendously when my husband was dying from cancer. It's helping me now as my mother nears her death. It helped me…
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Morphine questions
At the end did you give morphine as needed or on a schedule? She’s more alert as time passes. She pulls at blankets and turns her head. She also wakes herself up like when my kids were babies and tried to stay awake. She hasn’t eaten since Saturday and had hip surgery on Monday. She swallows some water every now and then.…
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Alzheimer's After Surgery
Hello all. Recently, my Grandfather had to have his hip replaced do to a fall. His Alzheimers hadn't been too terrible, mostly worst at evenings. But since the anastesia, it has gotten so much worse. He's not supposed to put any weight on his hip at all for right now, but he forgets that he's had surgery and forgets that…
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Bible Verse to Lift You Up 3/18/22
WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR Isaiah 41:13 Easy to Read Version 13 "I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand. And I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid! I will help you.’" * me: Why does the Lord tell us, "Don't be afraid?" He's in control. He's all-powerful. And He loves us. There is no doubt, He can and will help us. He is…
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Interested in food, but eating less
I'm curious if your loved one has also experienced this. Mom still seems very interested in food, but she has started eating way less than usual. She'll take a few bites of her meal and be done, even if she really enjoys the food. Any ideas why this may be happening?
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This was new - swallowing
So, my FIL can still chew and swallow food but had been choking on liquids so we started thickening them a few weeks ago. So far it has worked well but tonight he did something odd. He drank two cups of water with no problem, but then at dinner he got a mouthful of drink, and swished for what seemed like forever, then spit…
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How to help
My dad Has always worked hard, long hours to support his family. He has always come home to a meal and watched his tv shows in the living room with a TV tray. He used to go out to week on payday but mostly to Golden Corral. He has never wanted to brush his teeth, take a bath, or go to the shower. So wtt he ‘‘em he moved…
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Hernia
My DH has a baseball sized hernia and will probably need surgery. He is 75, probably stage 4. We are meeting with the surgeon on Tuesday. I’m obviously very worried about anesthesia. The hernia is quite problematic though. Any ideas?
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Outpatient surgery
My 92-yr-old mom with dementia needs a 2-minute procedure to remove a potentially deadly skin cancer from her face. She got very upset when the doctor proposed doing it at the first visit when the cancer was diagnosed. She refused, saying she's old and will die soon anyway, and that she doesn't want her face cut. The…
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Mom will not go to her doctor appointments
Hello everyone, When the pandemic hit it was not an issue Mom not seeing her doctors since the main issue was keeping Mom safe from Covid. Last year Mom had an appointment with her cardiologist and I had to reschedule (she never kept the new appointment). Today Mom had an appointment with her cardiologist and I had to…
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Not sure where to start.
There has been many changes in my mother in the 6 plus weeks she has been here. She can no longer eat finger foods. She is pocketing food big time. The hospice RN said this happens when the patient starts to lose muscle control of the throat due to forgetting, the brain forgets what to do, forgets how to swallow. She is…
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Baby eagle
A baby bald eagle has been hatched in Big Bear CA. There is a naming contest open until March 25th. Visit www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org to view the eaglet's Webcam or to suggest a name. Iris
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Hygiene With Dementia
Hi, I am Blake and I take care of Mrs. Betty and she has dementia. Her husband just passed away a couple of weeks ago and she also has a daughter with cerebral palsy (47 years old) (also lives in the home with her own sitter). Mrs. Betty refuses to go to the bathroom or shower or put on dry clothes or really do anything…
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Legal Address for IRS and SS
So my mom is in a memory care facility in Pennsylvania. She moved there from NJ. I was a resident of NJ up until a week ago, so I would have all her mail sent to me. I m now a resident of NC. I have a few questions that I really hope someone can advise me with: How do I change my mothers legal reisdential address for tax…
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My dad thinks I am his sister
We have been in the hospital for a week trying to find out if he has pancreatic Cancer which is what the PET scan showed. I am his only living child. He asks for my brother all the time but not me. He asks for his wife all the time but not me. But I know from my mom years ago that he didn't want me. Is that why is doesn't…
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New to all this, dealing the best we know how..need help
My mother was diagnosed with early dementia ( I don't give it a capital ) in early 2020 and further investigation was hampered by the shut downs. She and my father were isolated for much of 2020, aside from facetime and "through the window" visits. My father has congestive heart failure. They live together, alone. We three…
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She broke her femur.
My MIL broke her femur yesterday. We are doing Surgery to ease the pain. We don’t expect rehab to make her walk again. We just want to ease the pain. We aren’t desperate to fix her and restore anything. There are no good choices at this stage. Not doing surgery doesn’t feel right. We plan to bring her home asap and not…