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She has lost all concept of how to get dressed, loses body functions, quieter than her normal, wants to sleep an aweful lot, has no concept to put medicines in her mouth, stability worse (shuffles slowly and with effort with walker). The only thing she continues to do well is eat.

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Kevin, how long has your mother had dementia? How old is she? How many hours per day is she sleeping? What do her doctors say about her current condition?

As you know, dementia is a progressive disease -- which means it gets worse. Sometimes it gets worse very gradually and steadily. In many cases it takes a sudden nosedive and gets very much worse all at once. And then it may stabilize at that worse level. Eventually the decline will lead to death.

This is a very tough wait-and-see situation, but I don't think there is a lot more you can do to find out her prognosis.
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For sudden changes like this you really need to get her in to see the doctor. She may have had a stroke, or it could be caused by something else entirely, maybe a urinary tract infection.
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Kevin, generally in the final stages of dementia the person starts to sleep 20 hours or more per day. And it isn't a kind of sleep they can be coaxed out of.
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I would see what her doctor can do to help your sweet mom. I would also see a counselor for your self and support groups in your local area. I would also ask other relatives to step in to help you where they can because it is not just us as the caregivers going through this, but it is also a family situation for the entire family to be involved with the situation.
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Kevin, when our parents get into their late 80's and into their 90's they do sleep a lot... they are tired as you already know, they have lived a very long life. And the meds don't help. If you read the cautions on the bottle, so many say will say don't use drive or use heavy machinery, which means you will be sleepy.

My parents use to brag that they only needed 6 hours of sleep at night.... yeah right, they didn't count the nap they both took on the sofa for a hour after breakfast... the hour nap after lunch... the hour nap prior to dinner and again after dinner. Any time I visited them, at least once a week, I had to go wake them up.

Has Mom fallen recently? Would she tell you if she did? My parents use to hide Mom's falls. On Mom's final fall, scans showed a current and past brain bleed, and such head trauma will spiral a person into late stage dementia. My Mom went from someone fairly sharp for being 98, to being someone who couldn't do anything for herself, all within a couple of days. My Mom had refused to use a walker.
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Go to YouTube snd look for the Barbara Karnes video Gone From My Sight. Excellent, lengthy explanation of the dying process.
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Oh my, Vegaslady, that video with Barbara Karnes Gone from My Sight is very informative! Great information. It really has answers some questions for me.
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Kevin, your profile says mom has general age related decline. Has she been diagnosed with dementia? Dementia is not normal general age related decline.
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To: jeannegibbs...gladimhere.....lostsoul2345. Mom just turned 94 this month. She just saw her MD last week & he had no concerns of her health medically....blood pressure fine etc. she has had dementia for about 3-4 years now. No signs of urinary infection. Dementia is nasty. Feels like I've lost my mom before I really do. Best way I can describe it. If she had a small stroke unwitnessed this week, I don't know. I wouldn't guess that but obviously possible. Thanks for your concerns. All your comments helpful.
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Jeannegibbs, Mom sleeps 7 at night to 8/10am & has breakfast, medicines etc thereafter. Then she wants to sleep again but I try to keep her up. Sometimes not able to as she'll fall asleep in her chair. Eats lunch at 12 noon. I usually take her out in afternoon just to get out of house but sometimes that's not possible either. By 5-6 pm she wants to go to bed for night but I tell her it's too early and try to keep her up longer. I know her body is tired; real tired as she shuffles to walk with her walker and she is no spring chicken anymore.
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