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My husband is 80 yrs. old, and is being treated for liver cancer. He has very little conversation, even in company says he has nothing to say. Sleeps most of the day. He still drives, appears to be in trance like state. stays in his room except for meals. He can cook, dresses himself, but has become seedy looking. lets his beard grow scruffy & I asked him to shave says when we go out. Watches TV most of the time, he has had two to four bouts of urinary tract infection, after being treated for liver cancer. We play cards once a week, seems to understand, but can become forgetful. He is becoming forgetful. How do I have him tested to determine if he is in early stages of Alzheimer's?

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Sounds more like a combination of boredom and depression. Ask the MD to order him a nice looking bath aide once a week. They don't forget THAT.
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I agree, he sounds more bored and depressed than suffering from dementia from what you say. My dad had a lot of the stuff you're saying (sleeping a lot, not saying much, not wanting to shave or shower much).

His cognition was pretty good, he just got tired of living at around 88 until he died at 92. He had lung cancer, so some of his behavior (and your husband's) may be in response to the toll the cancer has taken on his body.
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I have the feeling that he is not feeling well. Liver cancer and its treatment are very hard on the body, as you know. Even if your husband is in remission, it will probably take him a while to get back to where he was, if he ever does. How long has it been since he ended treatment? Was there an extensive amount of damage to the liver? If his ability to process certain things in his liver is impaired, it can cause a type of dementia. A doctor should be able to help you there with blood tests and tests of cognitive function.

Since your husband had liver cancer, it would probably be good to avoid any type of pharmaceutical treatment for depression, if that is what it is. Do you think he would be open to white light therapy to see if it would help? There has to be some way to pick his spirits back up again.
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