Just wondering, length of time people on this site have been going through the aging parent dementia. This question is only for those, where parent lives with you, like myself.
This is a question that I always have in my mind, especially when I am burned out "how much longer". My MIL is 81 now living with us, she was diagnosed in 2017 but I remember her having memory issues in 2014...She was showing moderate stage signs in 2018, when she used to wander out of the house and was very aggressive and accusing of stealing etc., When it got worse, we put her on memantine. But I dont see much of a difference except for no more wandering.. Cursing, accusing daughter in laws still the same and for the last one year, the main difference is she nastily complains about practically any food we give. So I think she is still in moderate stage for the last 4 years, beating the odds. She is physically still quite healthy. Her diabetes has been over the roof for the past 10 years. But honestly it has never really affected her. And she refuses to any diet plans and stubbornly just says I wont eat. So that is added stress for us. My blood pressure has shot up living with her and I am depressed all the time. Like some of the posters in this forum has mentioned that the disease can go on to 20 years, I think I will be gone before she does..
I move in to help my mom with some physical problems "temporarily" in 2010, shortly after that I realized she shouldn't be alone any longer, we sold her place and she moved with me to my current home in 2013, she moved to the nursing home after she became completely physically incapacitated (and I hit burnout) in 2017 and she died 18 months later in Oct 2018.
There are so many different types of dementia, and each one progresses differently as well. My husband who had vascular dementia,(which is the most aggressive, with a life expectancy of only 5 years)was diagnosed in July 2018, and he died Sept 2020. And on the other end of the spectrum, I have a friend who's wife was diagnosed 18 years ago with Alzheimer's, and she is still alive, though seems to be in the final stages now. So as you can see, it really depends on what type of dementia the person has been diagnosed with as to the length of each one.
He said the person with dementia, "They are there in the flesh, but the person they were is gone. They are just a shell"
My husband who had vascular dementia,(which is the most aggressive, with a life expectancy of only 5 years)was diagnosed in July 2018, and he died Sept 2020. And on the other end of the spectrum, I have a friend who's wife was diagnosed 18 years ago with Alzheimer's, and she is still alive, though seems to be in the final stages now.
So as you can see, it really depends on what type of dementia the person has been diagnosed with as to the length of each one.