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Improved Functioning - is it normal?

khawkerself
khawkerself Member Posts: 6
First Comment
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in Caring for a Parent

My mom has had memory issues for years and was diagnosed with Alzheimers more than a year ago (mid stage at that point). At the time she was living independently with my dad, he was also struggling with COPD and an undetermined kind of dementia. His was fast moving, changed his personality, and ultimately ended his life. Hospice was a lifesaver for dad but the process was grueling for the family. When dad died at summer’s end, we all assumed that mom would completely fall apart. Quite the opposite. She seems to have gotten her life back? She is living alone with minimal help, clearer and more engaged than she’d been in years.

Dad died two months ago and mom continues to improve. We are celebrating the reprieve but genuinely confused. Is it possible for Alzheimers symptoms to subside?

Answers

  • H1235
    H1235 Member Posts: 2,333
    1,000 Likes 1,000 Insightfuls Reactions 500 Care Reactions 1000 Comments
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    How did your dad interact with your mom? Is it possible there were arguments and stress from two people with dementia trying to take care of each other? A person with dementia is never wrong and I imagine it would be difficult with the two of them living together. I assume that as much as she could she was trying to help care for him. That was probably stressful for her. From the time mom was diagnosed and living alone until a year later when she was in assisted living I definitely saw improvement. She was so stressed out about everything involved in running a house ( we also had family taking advantage of her). There was so much that had not been addressed in years, she had lost a lot of weight and her clothes didn’t fit, she hadn’t been to a hairdresser in ages, her cpap machine quit working 20 years ago and she insisted it could just be fixed, she needed dental work, her glasses were held together with tape. She refused to let me help with any of this before the diagnosis and after I just made things happen even if she didn’t like it. All of these changes for the better meant much less confusion and confabulation. I would think the improvement is due to a less stressful situation, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Commonly Used Abbreviations


DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
Read more

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