Haladol?

My mom was diagnosed with mild to moderate AD/VD two years ago. In July of 2022 she fell in the parking lot and fractured her pelvis prompting a move to assisted living. Her dementia progressed pretty quickly after her fall and move. She started thinking her stuffed dog was real and that it died. She cried for days over the death of this dog. Her NP put her on Seraqual which helped tremendously. She still thought the dog was real, but it was no longer dead so the tears stopped. Fast forward a year and now she doesn’t recognize this dog and was given a doll by the staff that she now thinks is a real baby. Well most of the time it’s a baby, sometimes she calls it a dog. Often she forgets her words and says something bizarre.

I would now put her at stage 6 and she is refusing meds and getting very angry as she says she has never taken pills and we are misinformed. This woman has been taking meds daily for 65 years! It’s so crazy! She is convinced we are moving her and keeps folding and stacking her things ready to place in moving boxes. She absolutely refuses a shower and brushing her teeth. In fact one time she used her blue toothpaste as hair gel. What a mess!

Anyway, we decided to have her evaluated for hospice yesterday and she was accepted. They are suggesting we try giving her haladol in liquid form as a way to get her to be less agitated. What do you think? I don’t want her to be a zombie, but do want her to be calm. This is so hard!

Sorry for the long ramble! I’m so overwhelmed as all the decisions fall to me.