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For the last week my mother has begun to reference her mother who died some time ago of Alzheimer's and her sister who died last year of cancer. I know that seeing dead relatives is a sign that the end is near. She hasn't, to my knowledge, begun to actually see them but will ask where they are as if they were suppose to stop by for a visit. Can someone with dementia experience sudden death before entering the final stages?

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Most people being cared for on the forum are old, and old people generally have more than one health condition aside from dementia so any of those can be the cause of death. In your case I think you sound like you are in panic mode and are grasping at straws trying to figure out what is happening to your mom - just because somebody who is in otherwise good health exhibits one or more of the "signs" of end of life doesn't meant they are dying, my mother has lived many years since some people in the healthcare profession pointed to her extremely low BP and sudden loss of initiative as a sign she was dying - wouldn't it be nice to have a crystal ball so we really knew what was going on?
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No panic. Just confusion. My mother had major nerve damage and hasn't been able to stand or walk on her own since so I am unable to use that mile-marker when keeping track of her decline. She always had a small appetite so that's gone to. She has also had trouble swallowing since the operations so that's off the table for now. She bruises with incredible ease so the chances of seeing marbling on her arms or legs is unlikely. The only major sign left to me will be her verbal decline. She sundowns quite a bit now, even carrying over into the day. When that turns to silence that will be a clear indicator but she could be well into the final stages before that happens.

I may be grasping at the small stuff but at this point it's all I have.
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I too have been reading the signs and trying to match the symptoms looking for clues, a lot of those charts are geared at end of life in younger people with diseases like cancer. There used to be a wonderful video on youtube (it has since been taken down)where barbara karnes spoke on dying and said that everything in old age up until the final hours takes longer, weeks become months and months become years. I think the mottling of the extremities is something that is only going to happen in the last hours, along with the cheyne stokes breathing and and other unmistakable signs. Something a nurse at the NH has told me and I have observed for myself in the year mom has been there is that when they stop eating they are almost always done - I've only seen one person who bounced back from an extended period of refusing all food.
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