My husband is diagnosed with PD and has recently been diagnosed with mild to moderate cognitive decline.
He is on a new medication which is a patch to help slow down the progression.
He believes the patch is for his vivid dreams from his other medications, while this is partly true, at his visit to neurologist last week, she said this will help him with the cognitive issues, my husband refuses to accept he has issues. I had him call the doctor to let him talk to her again as he for whatever reason felt I was wrong. He has gotten more argumentative with me over small things. He called the doctor 3 different times. He doesn't remember making the call. I showed him the number on his cell phone, but his realization and responses are ones that indicate he is in denial or he really doesn't remember.
I just don't want to frustrate him as I know that it can make his symptoms worse.
Anyone ever gone through this or has suggestions?
When he gets frustrated about not being able to think of a word, or how to put his shoes on, or how to pull the covers up when he goes to bed, we blame it on the brain surgery. That seems to appease and calm him, because of the visible scar on this head, which he can also feel when he combs his hair. I will never let him know he has dementia, and all our friends and family know not to mention it. He would be so depressed to know he had a disease there is no cure for, he wouldn't want to live.
So don't tell him he's declining. If he's aware of the PD, let that be the cause of everything.
Sending you a big hug cuz it SUCKS to watch your loved one decline and you can't do anything about it.
My husband was diagnosed with vascular dementia in July 2018, and at the time I was told by his neurologist, had a life time expectancy of 5-7 years. It has since changed to just 5 years. I never shared with my husband his diagnosis, and just let him live out the rest of his life the best he could, as him knowing would have only served to upset him.
He died 8 1/2 months ago, and I have no regrets with my decision.
Dementia symptoms often accompany PD. His dementia will cause you to re-evaluate your approach to his behavior. Although your desire to help him understand this new diagnosis is commendable, he doesn't understand what's going on, and is apparently not willing to accept it. Your job, now, is to learn how dementia affects him and how you respond to him. As if PD isn't enough of a challenge to you, and certainly your husband, dementia adds another layer of difficulty. As his symptoms progress, he will become more detached from reality, which will cause your role as his primary caregiver to be that much more challenging. Of course, correcting him or trying to convince him of his decline isn't going to work. Your job is to become educated about not only PD, which you may already be, but also dementia. “The 36 Hour Day” and “Surviving Alzheimer's” are two excellent books especially written for caregivers that will offer practical tips, help explain your husband's behavior, why it occurs, and what to try in response to each. Although Alzheimer's is in the title of the latter book, it addresses dementia symptoms and behaviors that are common to all the dementias. The below link to John Hopkins website can be helpful.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/parkinsons-disease/parkinsons-disease-and-dementia
My mother has moderately advanced dementia, lives in Memory Care, and calls the other residents 'stupid morons' b/c there's 'nothing wrong' with her at ALL. She's lived in denial her whole entire life and she's over 94 years old. I don't try to correct her, either, what's the point? The very nature of dementia means they're argumentative, extremely forgetful, and difficult in general. Take care of YOURSELF during this stressful time, that's my suggestion. Get respite care for DH so you can feel like a functional person again. That's really the best thing you can do along with agreeing with him to avoid arguments.
Best of luck!
Good luck!