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orphanA Asked January 2019

Where should I take Mom to get a diagnosis and/or assessment of dementia?

Mom was admitted for a broken ankle and following surgery she was infected with MRSA and hospital acquired pneumonia. She was left with cognitive decline. She lived alone and had no sypmtoms prior. I asked her MD what level dementia she had and Dr wouldn't give me a number. On the forum I hear of levels all the time. Should I find a new Dr?

BarbBrooklyn Jan 2019
Orphan; I'm so sorry for the issues that your mom is having!

What kind of doctor is your mom seeing? There are many different kinds of dementia, and not all of them come with neat little numbered stages.

Alzheimer's apparently is fairly predictable and lends itself to stages. Vascular dementia, which is what MY mom had, does not. Mom's functioning was all over the place, but would drop suddenly with no warning.

One thing that popped out at me is this; you said that your mom lived alone and had no symptoms prior. How often were you interacting with her prior to her hospitalization? The reason I ask is that I would have said the same thing about my mom. She was fine (we thought). Except she really wasn't. She wasn't going out, she was isolating herself, she was eating the same thing, week in and week out. She had handed over her finances to my SIL (we didn't realize it was because she could no longer make sense of her checking account) and asked me, oh so casually, if I would come and fill her pill counters each week. The early signs can be subtle!

Take heart, keep in touch here and welcome!
orphanA Jan 2019
Thanks much for the kind words. I was always and still am very on top of mom's health, etc. I suffer from caregiver burnout because I micro manage too much I think. Having said that her geriatric PMD says although the initial dementia was traumatic (apoxia from 4 intubations as a result of sepsis) now it is probably progressing due to underlying co-morbidities. She has cardiovascular and borderline diabetes for many years although always controlled. I am learning that what will be will be.

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