Newbie Sharing Info

CateM

Hi All

I'm Cate. I am here because my 95 year old gram has Vascular Dementia.  She lives in a retirement community with my uncle who is on the spectrum - he is retired and suffers from Asperger Syndrome. My mom and I along with hired caregivers are her main support. My uncle who I adore really isn't in a position to cope with some of the challenges gram has had over the past few years.

We are luckier than most. My gram is financially independent and is able to afford good care. We have had challenges finding the right care team for her but we now have a good one.

I have perused the message boards and I admire those of you here so much. You have so much knowledge and have dealt with LO's far more challenging than what we are managing. I have also learned a lot from reading here.

My question specifically is related to VD. We have seen grams condition worsen especially over the year of the pandemic. Fortunately for mom and I, we were were able to get into her community because we are caregivers.  And needless to say both of us were very very careful through this and lucky. No one in the community outside of 2 staff members contracted COVID - people were extra cautions and it paid off. But onto the VD. Gram no longer speaks - well a couple of words if she gets really angry but that's about it.  We are now smashing her pills into her food, she's suffers from incontinence - amazing to say that just started about 6 months ago - and she sleeps about 16-18 hours a day. She can still get up and uses a walker regularly but needs help with everything - although she still can feed herself. But she really has very little interest in anything and while she will sit in her chair by the TV, it's on but she rarely pays attention - maybe when there is something on with bright colors. Her main activity is a daily walk - which based on her fatigue can be a walk down the hall or to the other wing of the community.

Doing a lot of reading, a lot here on various threads about vascular dementia. My mom realizes the signs were there years ago with what mom thought was depression was probably signs of VD symptoms surfacing then. What we are wondering is what stage is she in and what can we expect. Her physician has diagnosed her but she has never been tested. Nowadays her anger is more prevalent but we have a routine with her that seems to keep her steady for the most part. She hates showers now, but some techniques do work with her. Mouth hygiene outside of mouthwash and occasional help with brushing on a good day is non existent.

So what would be the best source in finding out where her disease progression is at. In some ways she seems more capable than she should be in others less capable.

On a side note Gram has had a few Syncope episodes over the past 2 years. Scary at first but now we know how to handle it when it happens.  Is that also a common symptom of VD Decline?

LaurenB

Welcome to the group CateM.  I can't speak for the VD, but can say that often times the anger is out of frustration with knowing what is going on and not being able to communicate effectively.  Since Gram is older than 90, I can see the drs. point about not testing.  What would be the benefit of testing?  She's already in a safe situation and receiving care.  For the caregivers though, it is nice to know how some people with dementia progress.  There are great caregivers on this board that have great insight to share.  I also encourage you to look at the ALZ.org page for information written by medical professionals.  They are written in a way that can be understood by the regular person on the street.  Again, welcome!