Mom has been diagnosed with vascular dementia from a cerebral hematoma she had in May of this year. Any experience with rapid regression?

Leda; (((((hugs))))).

My friend the physician whose husband had this is totally beating herself up over this. She (and her doctor sons and dils) all feel like they should have seen this coming. It "happens".

Good thoughts to you and your mom.

Have you taken her back in to re-evaluate the hematoma? It would seem that there needs to be another scan to see what changes have occurred and whether surgery might be required.

It was explained to me that our brains are fed by blood vessels that are between the skull and the brain. The blood vessels are attached to both the brain & the skull. As we age, our brains shrink a little and this stretches the small blood vessels. Also, the older we are, the more fragile our blood vessels become. Any kind of bump to the head can break one or more of these vessels. In a young person, a bump may not cause any blood vessel break, but elderly people are more fragile. Even a small head bump can cause a lot of damage in an elder. What is your mother’s age?

When the vessel breaks, blood leaks out. The blood collects between the brain and the skull. The skull is hard but the brain is soft. The pooled blood pushes on the brain and the more blood, the more the brain is compressed. Bodily functions are lost because the brain is being damaged by the pressure on it.

So, the doctors are correct; sometimes it just happens. And changes can happen that fast. One minute you are driving fine and the next moment you have a fender bender. Your head hits the steering wheel or the side window. You may not even see any damage to the skin. The damage is all inside.

My FIL’s movements also became slow and eventually he could not walk or stand by himself.

He also had delusions (seeing things that were not there).

I am so very sorry this happened to your mother. It is so hard to witness someone you love loose their abilities. It is hard to understand and “wrap” your head around.

Keep asking questions. Everyone on this forum is here for you.

I have/had an 80 year old friend who recently had a subdural hematoma. (OBT, his wife, two of his kids and two spouse in laws are all physicians).

He died within a couple of weeks of onset.

I don't mean to scare or upset you, just that it DOES happen. Even with multiple docs watching.

Leda, your mom was healthy and then she had a brain injury. The brain injury caused vascular dementia.

Vascular dementia is generally characterized by plateaus and then sudden, steep drops. Is that what you're seeing?

Other dementias, especially Alzheimers, are characterized by slow steady declines.

Perhaps you could say a bit more about what you mean by steady regression. Is she losing more skills every day?

I’m so sorry you have this challenge to deal with. I know how hard it is to deal with a rapid decline. My FIL had a cerebral hematoma from hitting his head in a car accident. He had been showing signs of dementia for a couple of years. He was 91 at the time of the accident and died 6 months later after a rapid decline in mental functioning. We felt we could not keep up with his changing brain. Just when we thought we had a handle on how to respond to his needs, he would change.

Do you have any specific questions? Every situation is different, but I can share more particulars.

My mother also has vascular dementia. The good thing -- if there is a good thing -- is that she isn't so much forgetting things or people but it rather thinking things are happening that aren't. (She's invented an imaginary husband and tells me all about their adventures together, for example.) I tell people she's "adding" to her life experiences rather than losing them.

When she first started having her problems, she'd go downhill rapidly, then sort of plateau for a while, then go down more. I don't know if that's the norm for vascular dementia, but that's how it's been for her.

Surprisingly, since my dad died in November '18, she really hasn't gotten any worse other than bringing the replacement husband into the picture. I'd say that in the five years since she started having memory issues, this is the longest she's gone without significant decline. The difference is that she was at home with my dad caring for her, and she wasn't getting much stimulation outside of what my dad could do. Now I have her in a memory care facility, and she's doing infinitely better overall. They do different activities every half hour, and they aren't allowed to stay in their rooms all day, which is what she was doing at home. My dad could only do so much, and while he was relatively healthy, he was still 89 years old and trying to care for her and the house. He refused help and considered his care to be part of his marriage vows.

Constant socialization and stimulation has been enormous in her overall cognitive health. I highly recommend putting an emphasis on that for your mom to keep her from declining too rapidly.