Importance of connection for caregivers

Belle60

Just thought I would share a recent experience. My DH bounces back and forth between stage 4 and 5-mostly five. We recently took a car trip to visit family and he handled the car ride very well which surprised me. While we were there he had a really bad night where he was extremely confused(more than normal), extreme temp swings and incontinence. The next morning he had a temp of 101. No other complaints. I decided to take him to urgent care and they sent us to the ER. He had pneumonia in both lungs. They did not have to hospitalize him because we caught it early and he was not in acute distress.

I learned about what an acute change in mental status could mean for someone with dementia from this community. A possible infection of some kind. I dont think I would have made the connection if I was not a member of this community. I only learned of that from the other caregivers on this forum. I want to stress the importance of us sharing our information and experience because it only makes us stronger and better caregivers. We need each other to get through this!

White Crane

Belle, I'm so glad you got your DH to the ER in time so he didn't need to be hospitalized. And yes, we do need each other to get through this. Thank you for sharing.

Timmyd

My DW is in early stage 6 and seems to have accelerated decline lately. There have been no signs of any health problem, she still sleeps well and no complaints or indications of pain or discomfort. So far we are just thinking this is all just part of the journey but is there something I should be looking for that might be contributing to the accelerated decline?

Belle60

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/241930#Comment_241930

For my DH it was clearly a change in behavior not just a decline. He usually sleeps through the night with no issues. So when he was up all night and confused I suspected something was wrong

SDianeL

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/241930#Comment_241930

infection of some sort is usually the culprit. UTI very common. There are tests you can get for home. Don’t know the brand. Once you rule out infection, it is usually due to decline. Keeping track of new behaviors helped me.