Friday, May 30, 2008 Lisa asks

Q: My Mom seems to be clearer and more verbal?

My Mom is in a Nursing Home and has declined steadily during the time my father was ill and then again when we moved them into the Nursing Home and then again when my Father past away. I know any kind of change is 10 times as tramatic for an Alzheimers patient then the average person. So the decline was anticipated.

Further, a few months after my Fathers passing she took a very bad fall in the home and fractured her hipped. A period of hospitalization and surgery followed and she stopped talking for a while. She didn't always recognize us her children and the Grandchildren were not familiar at all. They weren't able to do much in the way of physical therapy as she slept through her sessions. She needs assistance dressing, toileting, washing and is for the most part not strong enough to stand on her own any longer. Her hands shake so badly she often isn't able to feed herself.

However....

Mother's Day weekend my Husband, my son and myself all visited her, for the first time in more then a year she was clear and very communicative. She knew us all! I went back to see her days later and she was much more withdrawn and quiet which is more the norm. Again when my Brother and his girls went to visit my mother a week ago, again she was very clear and knew who everyone was and was more verbal. I saw her again a day ago and she was clear and communicative. Although the only way she can get around is by way of a Wheel Chair she asked if I wanted to take a walk with her. On another occasion while attending a music program she asked to dance.

My question is are the clouds clearing for her? How can she show these incredible signs of seeming improvement and yet be so far along in her desease?

As far as I am aware there has been no change in her Meds!

Would appreciate if you can shed some light on this.

Many Thanks,

Lisa

Answers (3)

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Dorian Martin

5/31/08 1:07pm

Hi, Lisa,

What you described happened often with my mom. When she had visitors that she hadn't seen in a while, she would suddenly be very communicative. However, I would find her withdrawn, very tired and at times very snippy the next day.

This seems to be a common occurence. My theory is that those with dementia are similar in some ways to athletes in that they focus all of their effort and energy toward a particular event and once that's over, they have to take time to recover.

I wrote about this reaction by those with Alzheimer's in my blog, My Mother's Oscar-Winning Performance.

Take care!

Dorian

5/30/08 7:22pm

I cannot really say for your Mom. The only thing I can say is that probably she was not as bad as you thought she was and thus the surprise!
My father-in-law has stage 6 Alzheimer's. Last Nov. he was very sick due to some drug overuse and he went to the hospital. For one month or so, he could not walk and he was very idle. We all thought, ok this is it. Now he is into stage 7 and was going to a nursing home.

However, in Jan., he got better after we visited him for Christmas and etc. He just "woke up" and walked again. Now he is doing fine although he cannot balance his walk too well and the caregivers drive him to the lake.

The only explanation is that your Mom was not as bad as you thought she was. If she was very ill, it was not Alzheimer's. It was something else and she was very confused.

Confusion does not mean she is worse in staging. Not that they didn't decline or anything.

Just my 2 cents.

Nina

Carol Bradley Bursack

8/27/08 8:29am

I saw my parents rally every time my brother would come from another state. I'd have prepared my brother for all of this terrible change, and then he'd come and they'd perk up and make me look like an idiot! As soon as he'd leave, they'd revert to their pre-visit stage. The excitement seemed to give them energy.

I also saw unexplainable incidences with my dad. We'd be talking, and he'd suddenly become "Dad as we knew him." I could see it in his eyes. He's be talking directly to me and he'd say something profound like, "My universe has gotten so small." Then he'd go right back into dementia.

A student where I was doing a book reading said to me that she'd never known her grandma without Alzheimer's. Her grandma didn't know her anymore. Yet one day, she was hugging her grandma goodbye and said, "I love you, Grandma." Her grandma said clearly, "I love you, too, Anna." Then Grandma went back into dementia.

Who knows what people with Alzheimer's see? They may see things we can't. I wouldn't sell them short. And the fact that many go up and down in abilities and in and our of dementia isn't all that uncomon. Life changes make a difference.

One more example. My mother-in-law had been widowed and was alone in her own condo. I visited every day and made her lunch and such. But the paranoia was getting terrible. She wrote her name over and over, as if she was trying to remember who she was.

We moved her into a nearby nursing home and she was address by her first name, cared for with love and she ablsolutely blossomed. I still visited every day. She even went back to playing the piano. This lasted for a couple of years, until an illness weakened her.

We'll never be able to explain everything. Each person is unique. Enjoy the "good times," knowing they will pass and more decline will happen. Enjoy, but be prepared.

Take care,

Carol

Q: My Mom seems to be clearer and more verbal?

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