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Joyred1388 Asked April 2018

Can anyone tell me what the late stage dementia symptoms look like?

We had to put my mom in a nursing home after 5 years. She went into the hospital 2 weeks ago with a severe infection though they never specifically pin pointed the exact infection. They put her on strong antibiotics and it cleared the infection but she never came back to where she was. She's now in a rehab nursing home and she's having chronic diarrhea and a really bad wheezing cough. They're not sure if its from her crohns or just late stage dementia. I thought the nursing home would help strengthen her and though it's actually a good place, mom appears to be declining fast. Shes only in the rehab part of the nursing home but seems much worse physically and mentally except she eats really well, more than when she was home. My heart is broken even though there is 5 of us girls going to see her everyday all throughout the day making sure we help take care of her. Just in this short time she doesn't even know who we are.

JoAnn29 Apr 2018
That's X rays, I hate spell checker

JoAnn29 Apr 2018
Antibiotics will do a number on Dementia patients. I would ask about the wheezing. Portable trays can be brought in to see if she now has pneumonia. Tell the DON You want their doctor to see her. Not a NP the doctor. Decline would be a good reason. Here is what my RN daughter told me about hospitals and rehab. Medicare only allows a certain number of days in a hospital for a specific problem. Sometimes the hospital releases a patient before they should feeling the rehab can take over. That's not what rehab do. The person sb ready for therapy. Rehab are limited. Unlike hospitals, they have no pharmacy in house. No labs, no stays. All these have to be called in. So what happens is the admitting nurse at rehab feels the patient is not ready for rehab and sends them back to the hospital. Medicare in turn fines the hospital for sending the patient to rehab and the rehab gets fined for sending the patient back. Around and around they go. And the culprit in all of this is...Medicare.

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97yroldmom Apr 2018
I wonder if rehab is where she needs to be? Can she get medical treatment there? I know it must be very stressful to see her fail so fast. Five daughters working together! What a blessing.
As to whether this is dementia or her Chrons I have no idea. I wonder if she should be in palliative care rather than rehab? But do ask for a UTI test as Barb suggested as it can often be a major problem. Keep us posted. Hugs to you all.

BarbBrooklyn Apr 2018
Joy, I'm so sorry for your obvious pain!

How old is your mom? Sometimes Urinary Tract Infections in elders mimic dementia.

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