ncbill
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
A year ago, I might have felt the same way. Now...I am a little more cautious. A family member broke her hip and had surgery. Before and soon after surgery she was a mentally competent 88 year old. A little forgetful, but basically fine living on her own.
Within about 6 weeks after her surgery, she almost quit eating and mentally declined (I saw her a couple of weeks after surgery and she was mentally OK, but being picky at eating). She kept declining mentally. Within about 6 weeks after surgery she was at home with 24/7 caregivers so she wouldn't wander off. She was not eating and seemed to have clear dementia.
This went on for months. Eventually the caregivers got her to eat a little more (she had lost weight to well under 100 pounds -- she is thin anyway but this was really bad). She was eventually admitted to hospice (still at home) due to her failure to thrive and what seemed to be dementia.
Eventually, she was moved to a nursing home (about 5 months after surgery). By then she had gained a few pounds from her low. She was still too thin but was eating a bit better.
Anyway -- long story short -- within a month or so it was clear that her "dementia" was gone. She was basically back to normal.
It seems like that really never was a true dementia (despite doctors thinking that it was). It was delirium perhaps caused by the anesthesia and trauma and then exacerbated by her not eating.
The point is that the only real way anyone could know this wasn't a true dementia was by the fact that she did recover mentally over a period of months. She did have an infection at one point during this and I am sure took an antibiotic. I am glad she did! Today, she once again lives at home alone without dementia.
The point being that there are a lot of causes of what looks like dementia. Sometimes it is something like Alzheimer's and isn't reversible. But, sometimes it can be due to medications, or surgery, or trauma, etc. and is reversible. I would want to make really, really sure it wasn't reversible before deciding not to treat another illness.
Did she ever actually see a neurologist?
Only formal neuropsychological testing under the supervision of the above specialist should be the standard for a diagnosis of dementia.
I will say...most people who see their loved ones heading down that road hold out hope that it's a vitamin deficiency, or over-medication, or NPH, or an infection...but unfortunately it's usually dementia, not something reversible.
Should that be my journey in the future, I wish it to be as short as possible, hence my very restrictive healthcare POA.
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