Eating issues & stage question

mimisgranddaughter

My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimers back in August 2017. She has slowly progressed but luckily she has stayed the same over the last year and a half. As of right now she has a VERY short term memory- but is still safe in her apartment (with a lot of visits and help). She is at an interesting in between stage where she is not with it enough for assisted living but would not be advanced enough for memory care yet (thankfully).

She doesn't remember an hour after you leave if you visited her, but is very aware and with it in the moment. She lost 20 lbs since October so we are on a mission to make sure she is eating enough. Her caregiver feeds her a nice lunch every day which she eats, but at night when one of us 6 kids/grandkids go over to feed her dinner she says "no i just ate!". We are going to incorporate protein shakes in. Any other advice? Also- from your experience if she is around stage 4 how quickly did your loved one advance to the last stage? I know every patient is totally different- just curious if there is anyone out there whos loved one staged at stage 4 for a while. Thanks so much!

RanchersWife

My mil lost about 50 lbs when she was in stage 4. We didn’t realize she was in stage 4 because my fil was still alive. Heck, we didn’t know what stage 4 was yet. She seemed to do this deliberately. She needed to lose the weight. Maybe her appetite changed and made it easy. I don’t know.

She’s currently approaching stage 7. We’ve noticed that 6am, 11am and 4 pm are the best times to feed her meals. After 5 doesn’t work. She also will graze if we leave the food on the table and let her be by herself with it. Probably left over behavior from when she was overweight. Another guess. 

  Everyone progresses at their own rate. Grandpa made a comment to my husband...”Don’t tell anyone but I think your mother has that dementia.” That was 5 years ago and 6 months before he passed away. She was already struggling with cooking, staying on the road and even started to undress by the side of the pool after water aerobics (which she had driven herself to.) Stage 4 is still very early. I often think I could do this job better if I knew how much longer I have to last. But that’s not possible and really is very bizarre anyway. You just have to pace yourself and enjoy the good times right now. 

Also, please realize that once a person doesn’t know where they are (or that they are home) they will probably not stay there. That point can come at any time. 

hkg

Hi Mimisgrandaughter. I just joined the group tonight, and your message was the first I read. My mom has been managing ALZ for the past year+ and also lost weight. I recently met with a dietician who advised we add collagen powder to drinks/food and increase calories with healthy snacks like cottage cheese, avocados, and protein shakes (with avocado). Hearty stews and soups with a good protein can help too. We find that it's not about the food, rather the amount consumed. I hope a few of these suggestions help your grandmother and family. It's tough journey, but I keep reading that we're not alone. Stay well. hkg.

DrinaJGB

Years ago when my mother was undergoing chemo for cancer, a nutritionist at MD Anderson suggested she drink what they termed back then as "double milk supplement"-- ensure blended with nonfat dry milk and vanilla ice cream. My mom loved her shakes and the cool shake was soothing as chemo had caused mouth sores. It helped maintain her weight and she looked forward to her daily treat.

Arrowhead

My wife was diagnosed a year before your grandmother. It can be very difficult to assess when one stage ends and another begins. I believe my wife to be in stage 5. She has a few of the symptoms of stage 6 but I don’t believe she’s there yet. Over the first several years her weight went up 10 pounds. During 2020 she lost 30 pounds and has lost another 20 so far this year. She has a good appetite and actually eats more than I do. Early in the disease she forgot that we are married and would not believe me when I told her that we are. Although most of her cognitive ability has decreased greatly since then, she now often remembers that we are married. When she does forget and I remind her she smiles and accepts it. I know that’s not the answer that you’re looking for but any bit of information concerning this disease may be helpful.

GothicGremlin

 -- from your experience if she is around stage 4 how quickly did your loved one advance to the last stage?

My sister was diagnosed a little over three years ago (early onset), probably at stage 4. From stage 4 to stage 5 she probably lost around 30 pounds. She was on the thin side. She stayed there for most of stage 5, but toward the end she started gaining weight. She's now at later stage 6 and has gained the 30 pounds back, maybe even a little more.  I think this is mostly because she can't move around as well as she used to. She's definitely not steady on her feet anymore.

I don't know if this is helpful to know or not.....