Quote:
Originally Posted by unclebilly
Shaun,
Dementia is a cruel, cruel biotch.
On the upside, most dementia patients have no idea that they have dementia. It is cruel on family members that have to watch their loved ones lose their faculties and become frustrated sometimes because they don’t understand what is going on.
My father had an accelerated decline due to mismanagement of his diabetes. Diabetes and dementia are a horrible combination because the dementia prevents them from managing their sugar levels, the resulting extreme sugar levels accelerate onset and progression of dementia.
Dad is in a dementia facility now and his sugars are under control and he has stabilized but the cognitive damage is permanent. He has his good days (Christmas Eve) and his not so great days. Today, he declared to me that he cured himself when I visited him. I asked what he cured himself of, and he told me that he had an ‘internal pissing problem’… then he asked if I knew the owner of the hotel he’s staying at. He was in good spirits, just very confused.
I extend my most sincere sympathies to you for having to go through this with your mom. It’s not great but take solace knowing she doesn’t know what is going on and her outbursts are not sincere, this is the dementia.
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Thank you, that helps a lot. Learning it's not your mom making no sense/crying/yelling/accusing was a hard first lesson to learn but I have finally adapted all of my interaction with her which is a lot all day long so practice makes perfect.
Yesterday was a good day and I'd like to think how I'm communicating with her now is helping.