My MIL had a small crisis a couple of weeks ago when she knocked on her neighbor’s door and didn’t recognize her, even though she’s known her for 15 years. It scared her enough that she realized she shouldn’t be living alone, a decision we are thrilled she came to on her own as we’ve been very worried about her for the last couple of years.
We wanted her to be able to stay in her small town so she’s more likely to get visitors. There was only one option that had secure Memory Care and luckily it’s a very nice facility with great staff. We stayed in her area for about a week after moving her in and visited 2-3 times per day at random times and were very pleased with how they’re treating her.
One of the unfortunate things that happened the last few months of living alone is she decided without consulting her doctor to discontinue all meds. She had been on a dementia/ALZ med and she has had ALZ for 7 years. We tried to convince her to go back on the meds, but she refused. Her memory took a severe turn for the worse after being off her meds and her doc said the capacity lost during this time will not be recovered. At least she is now back on them so hopefully once they build up in her system again, further deterioration will slow down.
So far she’s adjusted to her new environment really well. We moved a combination of her old furniture/possessions and some new things in, and focused on family photos to decorate her room.
If anyone has gone through this and has any suggestions on how to help her transition and/or slow down her decline, I’m all ears. We used to visit a couple of times per year but will now come 3-4 times a year. I also contacted all of her nearby friends and relatives so they can visit her. She has decided her cell phone is too much for her to deal with now. She used to love texting and posting photos on Instagram but these activities seem to overwhelm her now. She does have a landline in her apartment and we bought her a picture phone so all she has to do is press one button to call her favorite people.
We wanted her to be able to stay in her small town so she’s more likely to get visitors. There was only one option that had secure Memory Care and luckily it’s a very nice facility with great staff. We stayed in her area for about a week after moving her in and visited 2-3 times per day at random times and were very pleased with how they’re treating her.
One of the unfortunate things that happened the last few months of living alone is she decided without consulting her doctor to discontinue all meds. She had been on a dementia/ALZ med and she has had ALZ for 7 years. We tried to convince her to go back on the meds, but she refused. Her memory took a severe turn for the worse after being off her meds and her doc said the capacity lost during this time will not be recovered. At least she is now back on them so hopefully once they build up in her system again, further deterioration will slow down.
So far she’s adjusted to her new environment really well. We moved a combination of her old furniture/possessions and some new things in, and focused on family photos to decorate her room.
If anyone has gone through this and has any suggestions on how to help her transition and/or slow down her decline, I’m all ears. We used to visit a couple of times per year but will now come 3-4 times a year. I also contacted all of her nearby friends and relatives so they can visit her. She has decided her cell phone is too much for her to deal with now. She used to love texting and posting photos on Instagram but these activities seem to overwhelm her now. She does have a landline in her apartment and we bought her a picture phone so all she has to do is press one button to call her favorite people.