dealing with dementia

[tri31]

I was hoping to reach out, in hopes that someone here can offer words of wisdom. Mom's illness started off with strange little things she would say or do. She has always had issues (emotionally) and I have tried for years to make peace with her despite our past. In less than a year she has declined tremendously. She is very far from herself now, living in late stage dementia. She had to go into a nursing home two days before Christmas, after months in the hospital. She always expressed that her worst fear was to be put in a nursing home. She seems to be adjusting. She still knows us, but she struggles to speak and express herself.

I feel so guilty. Rationally, I know I there is no one to blame, nor can I do anything to heal her. How do I stop beating myself up?

[MariaMadly]

Find a caregiver's / family member's support group . . . maybe her nursing home can give you info?

What a tough situation, seeing her lose so much as you lose, too. I'm so sorry.

[mamadelbosque]

s IDK. My grandma has dementia/alzheimers, and its hard. Mostly, she just doesn't talk anymore... I feel bad for my grandpa who has to take care of her, cause' as my dad says she's just not a companion anymore, let alone company. They live in a nice, big condo, and its mostly just quiet... Apparently my grandpa finds her just staring at the tv when its off sometimes cause' she turned it off accidentally and can't figure out how to turn it back on its very sad.... Its an awful disease - we watched her sister (my great aunt) go through it several years ago... and that was awful. This is just as bad, if not worse since I am/was so much closer to my grandma... and its very upsetting for my dad who used to be very close to his mom... and as he told me the other day, she's just not the woman he used to know even just 2 or 3 years ago.

[2goingon2]

Tricia - what an incredibly hard decision you had to make. It's easy for me to tell you not to feel guilty but for you I know it is probably impossible regardless of what you're told.

Your mother needs to be somewhere where she will have the help and care she needs 24 hours a day. I can see by your signature you have children and one on the way (congratulations!) so becoming her caretaker 24 hours a day, seven days a week is impossible for you.

You say she has trouble expressing herself...can she draw, play any instrument or sew or anything like that? Perhaps that would give her an outlet and also a distraction. I am sorry you are having to watch your mother drift away. I am slowly losing my father to dementia from a series of undetected strokes. It is hard and frustrating. He's not the father I knew and it's hard for me to be patient with him. I know it's even harder for my mother and there may come a day when she will need help in taking care of him and we will be faced with the same situation you are.

I wish I could say the magical words that you need to hear but I don't know what they are. Just know that you are doing the best you can for your mother and like MariaMadly suggested - find a caregivers support group.

Take care.

[tri31]

Thanks for the reply. No, mom can't read or anything anymore. She sleeps 18 hours a day, so it is a big deal if she is even conscience. Thanks again.

[riversong]

Hi- Hugs to you. My mom has Alzheimer's and my dad had been (poorly) caring for her until he broke his hip last month. I found her a residential care home near my house and she's been there for a few weeks now. I feel sad for her having to be separated from family, but I know she's being well cared for.

It's really hard to watch a parent slip away, even if you've had issues in the past. Why do you feel guilty? Is it because she's in a nursing home or because she has dementia?

[tri31]

I'm sorry.
The thing that I am struggling with lately is the feeling that she is no longer present in our lives. She is an hour and a half drive from here (one way). Never in my life has my mom been so kind and loving. It sounds horrible, but she has always been so combative and troubled, I love her like I never could have before. It is likely she will never leave that bed, again. Mentally, her reality mingles with dream stuff. Still she pleas to go home (to Ossining with her parents in 1955). She had a hard life, she made life hard. Now the family conflicts have melted away, and there is peace. And sadness that she could not know it. It is surreal.
Love is the answer, we love each other the best we can while we can.

[Savoir Faire]

I have two grandparents who have had this. One had official Alzheimer's and the other is Dementia...though my family isn't the sharing type, so it might actually be the big A as well.

You can't beat yourself up. We had to put my grandfather into a home and it was so sad, but it got to a point where he was becoming a danger to himself, my grandmother and any of the helpers they had.

My grandmother (on a different side of the family) lives alone at home, though they finally have tried to bring in help to see if it will work. She WANDERS OFF. She will triple up on her medicine because she can't remember if she took it. She rarely eats or makes herself meals and she goes back and forth between now and sometime back in 1940.

Dementia/Alzheimer's is a very scary thing and I feel for you. But, sometimes, well...you have to keep your loved one safe.

I've always just played along when they go to their alternate reality...it seems to be easier for them if you do it.

I really can't offer much help, but just hang in there. Give her all the love you can and know what you're doing is right, even if it hurts.

OH...and PS...about expressing themselves? They can often remember music and songs. My grandfather could not say anything besides "okay," but he could sing all the words to Jingle Bells.

[KatWrangler]

back to you.

My Dad died of Alzheimer's October 2007 and my Mom has it now. I have had 4 Aunts (on my Mom's side) die with this.

[Freud]

Hugs!

My grandmother is starting to lose her memory and slips into episodes of dementia. Lucky they caught it in time and she is now in two meds that slow the progress. She's more like herself now. She only slips into the dementia when she's scared (like when she fell and hurt her hip). Luckily, she is cared for by my aunt, who has lived with her for her whole life.

It's rough situation to be in. The most important thing is to make sure she is safe and comfortable.

Maybe try to get into a support group for people dealing with this. I know there are many. Hopefully there's some in your area.

[riversong]

A great "support group" is online at the Alzheimer's Association's discussion board. The people in the caregivers forum have been really helpful to me. Here's a link to anyone who is interested:

http://alzheimers.infopop.cc/eve

I posted this link a while ago in another Alzheimer's thread and I should probably do it periodically on here, because I think it's a great resource.

Savoir Faire- That sounds like a really unsafe situation for your gma. I hope the help works out. It sounds like she needs someone with her 24/7 if she's wandering and overmedicating.

[jewelsJZ]

My grandmother has dementia and has been in a nursing home for years. Tricia, I thought that was interesting what you said about her personality changes, no longer being combative, etc. My grandmother had a lot of anxiety, quite severe, but was never diagnosed. Now in the advanced stage of dementia, the anxiety is gone. She is so calm and peaceful now. She is not the grandmother I grew up with, but it is so nice to see her feeling at ease. She also does not remember that my dad passed away a year ago, which I think is truly a blessing. When she asks for him, we say he is in heaven, and this makes her smile.
I feel horribly guilty that she is in a nursing home, now that my Dad is gone, I feel even more responsibility. I just don't know how we would take care of her physical needs if she lived with us. My aunt and uncle see her weekly, they take her out faithfully, even though she never remembers it.
Anyway, just wanted to second the support group. I haven't gone but a friend who does shares lots of info with me and we talk about it. So many similarities in how we feel, in the experiences our families have shared. It is comforting.
Now my mother in law is showing signs of dementia as well. My FIL takes good care of her but if he ever can't, we hope to have her live with us if possible, for some period of time, but realize that isn't realistic forever.
(((((hugs, Tricia))))), these decisions are just not easy.

[rcr]

I came over here to see if there was an Altzhimer's thread. My mom is in the middle stages (at only 67 years old), and I am soon to be her primary caretaker. She is moving in with me, but I think that I will end up putting her in assisted living very soon. We have arrangements for her during the day when I am at work for now.

The thing is, with her living with me, I can not leave the house without her when I get home from work, so my life will only be working, and taking care of her... no more gymnastics lessons for DS, dinner with friends, etc... Going to a nursing home is my mothers biggest fear too, but I think that if she were normal, she would never want to be such a huge burden on my family. I try to remind myself of that when I start to feel guilty about sending her to assisted living, and it does help.

She is also very aggressive and sometime violent, which scares me. At other times she is depressed and wants to die. This is a horrible disease, but I am certain that my mom would not want it to ruin my life and my family's life as it as ruined hers.

[tri31]

It's a heart breaking thing to live with.I'm sorry. I was working as a home health care aid, last year. It's a hard, yet rewarding job (taking care of someone) I hope things go well for you.
I am painfully pregnant, I haven't seen mom in three weeks. I couldn't make the trip to see her on her birthday. Next month would have been my parents 40th wedding anniversary. My dad just started seeing someone. I am sad for her. Of course, she is not aware that she has slipped away from us. I seem to experience my grief in surges.
Thanks to you all for posting.

[riversong]

Originally Posted by rcr

The thing is, with her living with me, I can not leave the house without her when I get home from work, so my life will only be working, and taking care of her... no more gymnastics lessons for DS, dinner with friends, etc... Going to a nursing home is my mothers biggest fear too, but I think that if she were normal, she would never want to be such a huge burden on my family. I try to remind myself of that when I start to feel guilty about sending her to assisted living, and it does help.

My mom's Alzheimer's also started young. She was 65 when I started seeing signs. We had my mom with us for about a week over Christmas break and it was so much work. I also could not leave the house without her, so that meant I needed someone to babysit her so that I could do errands. Between her and the kids, dh and I were constantly caring for someone day and night.

My mom was also afraid of going into a nursing home and resisted assisted living even when she was living with my dad. After my dad broke his hip in Dec. and she spent that week with us, I found her a residential care home. She didn't like it at first, but now she's so comfortable and happy there. She's well cared for and I visit her on the weekends.

I know it's hard not to feel guilty, but finding an alternate living situation for your mom is best for you and her. Do research to see what kind of facility would be best for her. Sometimes the bigger assisted living facilities are not the right match. You can pm me if you want to know more about my experience.

[leaveit2beeker]

My mom is currently 65 years old, and has been living in a nursing home for 13 years due to bipolar disorder and early onset dementia. It was a very difficult decision for my older siblings to make (I was a minor at the time) and we are all still struggling to make peace with it. My mom has been out of my life...well, my whole life. But much like you, her home is an hour and fifteen minutes away and I struggle with having her so close and yet so very, very far away at the same time. My mom may recognize us most days, but has no desire to initiate or continue conversations. She is literally so medicated to control her mental cycles, it's like she doesn't even have a mental presence at all. It's hard not having her be part of my life, and I can imagine you are very hungry for your mom's presence during your pregnancy. Many, many hugs to you

[Jmo780]

*Hugs* to everyone....It is a hard thing to go through. My grandma (92) just got moved into a "Retirement Home" (Different than a nursing home) She has dementia also. She lived alone on a huge farm, and started to hear voices, kids etc....Upstairs (where nobody ever goes) she was calling 911 fairly often, to have to police go up and get the "kids" out. It got to the point where she called 911, 12 times in 24 hours, to have the police come and check the upstairs for her. The pilice took custody of her that time, and told us we either put her somewhere to get the help she needed, or they would give custody of her to the state & they would decide where she went.... She was also seeing a white bull, over in the barn. She started cooking dinner for ppl, whom she thought were in her house, but in reality was only her there.

Anyhow, we got her moved into a really nice place (after being evaluated at a psych ward for a week etc....) put her on new meds for the progress of dementia etc. She is still a little upset with us for, as she says "Tossing her out of her home" but she seems to be adjusting somewhat anyhow. I dunno, she is still "with it" in the head, andou 95% of the time, will carry on conversations, remembers a whole lot about pretty much everything, but slips sometimes.

I work in a nursing home. We have the dementia/altzhimers floor, which I wanted to comment on, as far as the aggression etc.

Some of the ppl we care for are still very loving, sweet, quiet, but we have a few who are physically and verbally abusive on a daily basis. So Im not sure how that goes, as far as maybe it affecting certain ppl differently than others.

Either way, it is such a hard thing to deal with....

I do find it extremely interesting, how they revert back to the younger days. Sometimes I think I would love to be in their minds for just a few minutes, to see what they see.

[rcr]

Originally Posted by Jmo780

Some of the ppl we care for are still very loving, sweet, quiet, but we have a few who are physically and verbally abusive on a daily basis. So Im not sure how that goes, as far as maybe it affecting certain ppl differently than others.


I do find it extremely interesting, how they revert back to the younger days. Sometimes I think I would love to be in their minds for just a few minutes, to see what they see.

Count my mom as one of those aggressive types - the was kicked out of assisted living for being violent a few weeks ago.

I would never never never want to be in her mind. This disease does horrible and cruel things to people. I would not want it for a second.

They revert back to their younger days because they forget things in reverse order... that is why my mom thinks I am her sister - because mom thinks she is 30, and her sister is about my age in my mom's 30-year old brain... and since she is only 30 she can not possibly have a child who is my age.

[tri31]

Sometimes I get stuck on the bad days. Mom's been so depressed. I brought our new baby to meet gramma. It was precious. As soon as she saw him she was in love. I am not sure she remembered exactly who we were. But she knew her much longed for family had finally come to be with her. So sad, and yet glad.

[mamadelbosque]

s My grandma is dieing... my dad moved up to his parents' house to help his dad take care of her almost 2 wks ago now... She's more-or-less stopped eating/drinking over the past few weeks, so nobody's sure how much longer she'll be around for. Its very sad... I've made a concerted effort to get up there and take pictures of her with my boys, so that they at least have a few pictures of them with their great grandma, you know?. Part of me is anxious for her to die... I'll be very sad, but at the same time, relief, you know? That she's done suffering... that nobody has to worry about her anymore. Its callous, I know... but in many ways I hope she passes on quickly... for her sake and for my grandpa, and my dad and everyone else' sake.