Length of stages 6 & 7

AlzWife2023

How long was your loved one in stage 6 and stage 7….or for how long have they been?

I think we’re mid stage 6….been here for about a year.

SusanB-dil

Due to MIL having vascular, the plateaus can be rather long. She was in stage 5c for probably 2 years. Now we are in probably 6b. It has already been over a year and a half.

harshedbuzz

@AlzWife2023

In dad's case— mixed dementia/Alz and WKS (still drinking)— he was diagnosed fairly late in the game and brought a lot of cognitive reserve to the party.

He was officially diagnosed in December 2016 after a hospitalization in August where he seemed to meet the criteria for stage 6. I'd noticed personality changes as early as 2005 and startling memory loss by 2008.

Treatment for the WKS and time in rehab leveled him off in a stage 5-ish area; with drinking he quickly rebounded to a solid stage 6 by spring 2017. By late fall, he appeared ready to dip a toe into stage 7 and we made plans for placement in late January 2018. At this time, we were noticing significant weight loss despite a decent appetite. It was if food was just passing through his body with being digested. Within weeks, his whole physical appearance changed. He died in early April 2018 form complications of aspiration pneumonia. At the time of his death he was still eating, ambulatory and conversational although he was reporting seeing people who had passed.

My favorite aunt who had VD/ALZ seemed to linger in stage 6 for about 3 years and then about 2 in stage 7. Several times she stopped eating and drinking for a week or so which we thought would be the end but then rebounded for several months. My nasty aunt went from a solid stage 5 to stage 7 upon breaking a hip and having surgery to repair it. She lasted a very long 3 months before passing.

HB