Mom’s latest explanation

Quilting brings calm

I know you all have been there, done this. This is more or less a vent/ update.

Mom has told me she doesn’t feel good for a couple weeks now. There’s no real physical issue other than she won’t always wear her oxygen and therefore feels even more tired than normal. She’s 86. I don’t expect her to ever feel perky again. I know she is ok. The nurse at the AL knows she is ok. She is on comfort care anyway. I’m not dragging her out to the ER when she doesn’t need to go.

Reminder: the AL nurse told her a couple weeks ago that the memory loss and confusion mom ‘suddenly’ noticed was because she has dementia.

The AL had their flu shot clinic Wednesday and the residents also got RSV shots. Mom told me again yesterday when I saw her that she didn’t feel good. So I told her the shots probably made her tired. She called me today to say again she didn’t feel good. I asked her this time to tell me what she meant - to describe it. Just in case I was missing something. The answer that I got - her brain feels foggy. She doesn’t feel bad otherwise. She told me she’s never getting the shots again since they caused her brain fog.

I have mixed feelings here: on the one hand, I’m rolling my eyes at her blaming the shots. On the other hand: I’m so sad for her that she’s having moments of clarity enough to realize that her brain is broken. She’s not had that realization for a while.

I told her to give it a few more days. That she would better soon. All I can hope is that she slips back into the state where she doesn’t have that clarity to know she’s got a broken brain. At least she seems to have forgotten that she has dementia. She went for five years not realizing she had it.

harshedbuzz

@Quilting brings calm

There was a similar thread on the Parent Board. That said, maybe mom heard others ascribing unpleasant side effects to shots. I've not done RSV yet, but COVID, Senior Flu and that 2nd Shingrix (not all at once) made me feel terrible.

Head feels "weird" or "funny" — ALZConnected

HB

Quilting brings calm

@harshedbuzz. I had friends who got their over 65 flu and Covid booster on the same day. They said it made them really tired etc for a couple days. One of mom’s good AL friends is having a reaction too.

I don’t doubt that mom got some sort of a brain fog reaction to the shots - but it’s not the reason she noticed the brain fog a week before the shots.

Thank you for the link! Yes, we seem to be back to the days early on when mom described her brain as flying off in different directions.

pamnc123

my mom does the same thing. Lately, a lot! I try to get her to describe her symptoms and she has trouble doing so due to the alzheimers. I've taken her to the doctor many times and been told nothing is really wrong except her COPD was just acting up. On top of alzheimers mid stage she has COPD and congestive heart failure. Also - really bad arthritis in her knee. Two times I've got her scheduled and ready for a knee replacement but both times, she won't go through with it. She just wont' do it and then 2 weeks later she'll start complaining and I bring it up and she doesn't even remember being scheduled and set up to do it. I'm at a loss. Don't know what to do next. I'm reading all these threads and I'm seeing how common everything I'm experiencing is. This is dreadful.

Iris L.

Knee replacement requires quite a lot of physical rehabilitation for a long time. Also the pain does not disappear quickly.

Iris

Carl46

General anesthetic can significantly worsen Alzheimer's disease. I would not consider knee replacement for my wife; she'd be better served by a wheelchair.

harshedbuzz

@pamnc123

Iris makes a good point about the required rehab and time it takes to be pain-free post-operatively.

My guardian-aunt elected to have auntie w/dementia undergo TKR. Auntie's knee was painful even when not weight-bearing and was horribly swollen. The surgery went well, but auntie suffered a stroke in recovery and never walked again. The pain was resolved, but her sister felt terribly guilty for the outcome.

Carl46— most ortho surgeons use spinal anesthesia for this surgery along with sedation.

HB

M1

I'm with the majority here pamnc, I would not subject someone with Alzheimer's to a knee replacement. Wheelchair and narcotics are the way to go.