Introduction and Mixed Dementia Diagnosis

rlpete

I recently joined and thought I would do an introduction as I expect I'll be coming here in the future. 

In 2018, my wife (then age 60) starting having anxiety and then complaints that her vision was bad. We went to various eye doctors and such. She even had cataract surgery. I knew something was wrong as she couldn't pour water from a pitcher into a glass since she could not judge the distance properly. Her family doctor (who is great) sent her to a neurologist. She was diagnosed with mixed dementia plus she had had a minor brain infarction. 

Now it has been four plus years. Her vision has progressively gotten worse. She can't read and not because she doesn't know words but rather she cannot track from one line to another. If she has a single word she knows the word but moving across a sentence is impossible. I can watch her eyes and see they are not focusing where she is trying to look. Walking is hard especially outside. Curbs are a real challenge as her depth perception is very bad. We find parking lots that we can walk as they are flat. Her speech is still good except she frequently and unfortunately more commonly loses her train of thought. Eating is hard but we found that constrasting colors help so her water glass is green not clear. She does better with food she can stab. Penne is a better pasta than linguini. 

Her day is mostly watching TV. She can't follow complicated movies and such so shows like the Tonight show work best. She still likes listening to books on tape occasionally. She has trouble following the story but she just likes listening anyway. She has one of those exercise cycle things she can use while seated to get some exercise. The highlight of the day are our dinners. They were even when she was healthy. We listen to music, talk, enjoy a little wine (in moderation) and it usually take close to two hours. 

She is still very much aware of everything. She feels bad that she can't do anything and that the plans we had for our 60's and 70's are not going to happen. I don't mind doing everything around the house. My toughest job is keeping her spirits up. We don't have kids but we do have a couple of friends who help. 

With the diagnosis of mixed dementia it is hard to know exactly how this will play out. I know it won't be good. There is a dementia called Posterior Cortical Atrophy which sounds like many of her symptoms plus it usually strikes earlier than Alzheimer's. I expect eventually this will look closer to Alzheimer's (my Mom died from Alzheimer's). Anyway that is my story. If anyone has similar stories with mixed dementia and/or Posterior Cortical Atrophy I'd love to hear them.           

sandwichone123

Rlpete, welcome to our club here. There are other people that will have much more helpful insight than I do.

The only thing I thought of reading your story was a study that suggested a red plate. I thought of the green drinking cup and the white pasta and was reminded of this study.

May flowers

I feel for you, dementia plus vision issues are a real challenge. My FIL was not dx with PCA, but some of his vision issues sound similar. Early on he would say that the words were split in half, and he couldn’t read them. Also had a hard time with depth perception and such, which made him a high risk driver (we nipped that in the bud early) He had a hard time signing his name too, I found if I could get him to close his eyes, and go from muscle memory, he could do it. The eye doctor gave him prism glasses but he never could figure them out.

Anyway, we are a long way from all of that now in stage 7c, but the red plates are amazing. I cannot praise them highly enough. He can still see the plate and the contrasting food. The ones we use have with a lip so he can chase food around the edge until he gets it on his spoon. I push the food to the edge from time to time so he can catch it on his swoop around.

Because of the vision issues, I have learned to speak to him as I am walking up to him or about to touch him (as to not startle him) and also, I put things in his hands like a cup. If I just put it in front of him, he doesn’t see it.

rlpete

Sandwichone123, 

Thank you. I didn't know specifically about red versus other colors but we do have several colors of plates. I also have different placemats. Tonight's dinner was spinach tortellini in red sauce so the blue placemats with white plates really constrasted the green tortellini and red sauce. The dinner went off without a hitch and the dog didn't get anything that fell to the floor (to his dismay). Oh the things we learn on this journey. 

rlpete

May flowers, 

Yes the vision problems make everything so much harder. My wife would be so much better if she could see properly. We would be able to get past some of the memory and speech issues easier. She voluntarily gave up driving thankfully as the anxiety was too much for her. She hasn't had to sign her name recently but the last time she could not keep it in a straight line or in the proper space on the form. The muscle memory idea is interesting. I'll have to try it sometime. 

She is still able to eat with a fork. As I mentioned, she is good at stabbing things so pasta, chunks of chicken etc. work well. I'll keep the bowls in mind for the future. Yes, sometimes I have to put things in her hand. Sometimes she sees it and sometimes she doesn't. I can look at her eyes and I can obviously see that she is not looking where she should or sometimes I see that her eyes dart around.

Thank you.     

toolbeltexpert

Rlpete  I can't add any, but you sure will get lots of good experience here.  I kinda chuckled that your dogs gone a diet, a see food diet. pun intended. I hope it's not viewed as hurtful, or mean. Sorry for the reason you found this group, but glad you did.

Stewart

rlpete

Toolbeltexpert, 

No offense taken in the least. My wife and I even joke when she does something well such as get through a meal without incident. She jokes herself "See I'm a big girl." She has been handling her diagnosis better than I think I could if it was me. She does get down but I admire her strength through this so much.