DW possibly getting ready to transition.

ghphotog · September 14

Transition, the word they use now. She is on antibiotics again and she's been really out of it lately and not eating much. They have been hand feeding her for a while now. The nurse said she might return to baseline in a few days or she could be getting ready to "transition". If she continues to eat less and less then it's possibly getting close. They are giving her Ensure and she likes that. . . for now anyway.

It's been a long hard road for her.

fmb · September 14

@ghphotog I am so sorry. It has been a long hard road for both of you. DH took a sudden downturn this week (no UTI), and I point blank asked DH's hospice nurse if he was getting ready to transition, and she said no, that what we're seeing is just normal disease progression (mostly congestive heart failure). He is still eating, but has many of the other signs. I'm guessing he'll be gone by Christmas.

I'm praying for you and all the rest of us who are staring into the abyss.

Vitruvius · September 14

I've been advised by hospice several times to get our final arrangements in order. My DW is eating less and less and is continually losing weight. She has rarely opened her eyes in at least two months, and not spoken a word for at least a month. The hospice nurse told me they chart her as Stage 7e (yes they're using the Fisher scale).

Yet she is still here. They tell me her vitals are normal. Point being nobody really seems to know how to assess a dementia patient's decline. They have speculated about my DW's "transition" for nearly a year. But for my DW, it could be tomorrow or beyond next year. Meanwhile my life is on hold, visiting her every other day, feeding her, trying to make my own assessment.

If it is time for your DW to transition, I think that avoiding a long stretch languishing in late Stage 7 is a mercy.