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hello my nan came out of hospital a month ago after she had a very small heart attack, me and my mum do half the week each to take care of her because she has started to get confused and do and say strange things, like putting her underwear over her clothes, thinking its breakfast time late at night then going to get herself dressed, she has weed on the floor and the list goes largely on, we don't know what to do or how to cope, she is going to have a mental test but that can take months and we really need support on what to do now, she also sleeps all the time if that's just old age i don't know but she never did that before her heart attack. thankyou

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Hi lost,
Your nana's heart attack traumatized her body, but the hospital stay traumatized her, as well. It's unfortunate that hospitalization of elderly people can sometimes trigger dementia symptoms. Sometimes people recover, but many times they do not. The hospital atmosphere of noise, busyness, impersonal treatment and so many unknown's - plus being away from family in an unfamiliar place - can be very hard on elderly people.

Another thought is vascular dementia. Her heart attack brings that to mind, though vascular dementia is more generally more likely following strokes. Whatever the cause, you can only do so much.


I hope your nana recovers. Meanwhile, you are right in getting her tested. Learn all that you can about Alzheimer's (which is just one kind of dementia) by going online to organizations like the National Alzheimer's Association here in the States at www.alz.org. Be patient and understand that your nana can't help these changes. Alzheimer's disease is very slow to develop and she may have been developing the disease which was then triggered by her trauma.
Take care,
Carol
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When she had her heart attack , maybe you should have asked for her to be seen by a Neurologist while she was in the hospital. I do not know where you live but she should be seen by one sooner than later .
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Dementia has 14 or 15 forms , Alzheimer's being only one of its forms. You would need a Doctor ( CT scans , MRI and or mini mental state tests ) to say which one your Nana maybe suffering from if any . Weed on the floor as in Pot? I know I must be reading this wrong? But maybe your Nana does smoke pot. I'm not standing in any kind of judgement if she does but how good could smoking pot or weed be for her at this point. Unless its for her eyes , does she have a Glaucoma or does she have cancer and it helps calm the Nausea from Chemo?
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