Weight loss

Cecil Jones

My wife Jenny has been losing weight. 6 months ago she weighed 183 lbs today she weighs 151. She had started eating less and less but the last month or so seems the weight loss has sped up. She gets unstabled if she walks very far but can walk. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's almost 4 years ago. My question; what should I expect within the next year? She's on no medication. Not incontinent for the most part. Can walk but very slowly and not very far. Can't have a conversation. Happy as a Lark. She's been on Hospice since February.

Cecil,

M1

It's a worrisome development Cecil. Honestly, if i had to guess I would bet she doesn't last another six months. That kind of profound weight loss is going to lead to weakness and falls. Good that you have hospice in place. I'm sorry...none of this journey is easy.

Phoenix1966

When my grandmother displayed similar weight loss, she lasted about 6 months. She still had a decent appetite, but her body was no longer really processing what she was eating efficiently. She was, however, 95 and had a toe in stage 6 of her dementia journey at that point.

Quilting brings calm

My step-father lost about 15 pounds between August and November of last year. He lost another 15 by January of this year. He went on hospice Feb 15 and passed away Feb 28. He went on hospice the week before his scheduled annual lung CT. Therefore we don’t really know what caused the weight loss and his death. We suspect that the thyroid cancer nodules in his lungs grew … or some other new cancer happened.

I would say the 6 month estimate that posters have suggested is probably accurate.

harshedbuzz

It's concerning.

Despite a decent diet which was supplemented by high calorie treats, dad started to lose weight rapidly in the final months. At the time he was still conversational and ambulatory. He lost about 30lb in the last 3 months of his life. I mentioned my concern to the DON (dad had only been in the facility 7 weeks and only had 1 monthly weigh-in) who gave the 6 month statistic and scheduled a hospice evaluation for the next morning. Dad passed that evening.

HB