Vascular Dementia

Eva.Daddy

Hello everyone, Im new in this group and i just find out about my father that he is diagnose with Vascular Dementia and this is new in our family. Since i decide to be his caregiving for him i would like to know more what support i need! He is 77 years old .

SusanB-dil

Hi Eva.Daddy - welcome to 'here', but sorry for the reason.

First off is paperwork. Best case is to get DPOA and HIPAA accesses. You can consult with a CLEC (elder care lawyer) for that. With MIL, the medical access was included in the DPOA, but it doesn't hurt to have it direct in the doc's offices. Also important is safety - such as no driving, meds, eating, etc.

There are books that are helpful, such as 'The 36-hour Day', and others are listed in another forum if you want to look them up. This forum has helped a lot.

It is a bumpy ride and it bites. MIL has vascular and alz, the most common of the dual. So sorry you are dealing with 'this'.

Shenmama99

hi Eva.daddy. My 93 yr old mom has vascular dementia as well. Ive suspected it for a very long time now. CScan confirmed. I wish I had some wonderful information to share with u but I’m struggling with this too. The support of this forum is wonderful. The roller coaster of her emotions and paranoia is madness. She also has chronic UTI’s. I have her in palliative care and our next step will be hospice. I’m really sorry u r dealing with with this. It is a horrible disease.

H1235

Welcome. If you go to the group section on this site and go to new caregivers there is a lot of great information. I would strongly recommend you take a look at the staging tool, it is very helpful. There is also a post titled understanding the dementia experience that is very very good. As susanB-fil said getting paperwork in order should be a priority. A DPOA is very important. You might also want to consider a living will, it’s a chance for him to make decisions about medical care he would or would not want (treatment if cancer is found, feeding tubes, DNR etc). Remember he is probably not going to tell you when he can no longer manage finances or is unable to drive, safe to live alone, that is up to you to decide (or DPOA). Anosognosia is a person with dementia’s inability to recognize their symptoms. It’s common and extremely difficult. When people think dementia they usually think memory loss, but it is so much more. My mom has vascular dementia and memory loss is really not too bad, but the anosognosia, lack of good judgment, short attention, lack of empathy, and anger over all the freedoms she has lost is tough. However you decide to approach this I would recommend a backup plan or a plan for the next level of care. Assisted living facilities can have waiting lists. That may not be your plan now, but it may be necessary down the road and having some idea of what options are out there might be a good idea.

Eva.Daddy

Thank you everyone for support . My father does not speak English or know to much about here . I dont have other siblings to help me . My mother is with me but she does not speak or drive , so im the one trying to manage everything, include doctor appointment's., therapy and try to do research so my parants can understand more .

scoutmom405

I feel like ìn the beginning of my FIL vascular dementia & Alzheimers diagnosis, the disease progressed slowly for a while. Then symptoms would get intense. His neurologist printed out the levels (or stages) of dementia. It helped me get a feel for what level he was in, & what level was coming. Of course everyone is different with symptoms. My FIL just happened to have almost every issue listed under the levels. He's starting to show level/ stage 7. 6 years ago when diagnosed she put him at level/stage 2.