My Mother for 9 years thought to have dementia has a reassessment tomorrow. What to expect?

I am really curious what you find out! My MIL had brain scan about 13yr-15yr ago that showed severe brain atrophy. Dr told DH that meant Alz and bc so severe she'd be in NH within 6mth, a year tops. She's exactly the same all these years later! She lives alone, has very intelligent conversations, keeps up with all the current events, ask her anything about politics or high profile court cases & she'll talk hours with very intelligent thinking. She is however someone that is scared to leave her house & be in crowds but always has been. We struggle with getting her to eat, but eating disorders started in her teens. Fast fwd 12yr and now my mother has early onset Alz & has very rapidly declined within 6mth, yet her scans are 'normal'! They are nothing alike mentally, my mom needs 24/7 care while MIL still lives alone with our support ie: grocery shopping, paying bills which is something we took over when FIL died for fear she couldn't handle it based on what dr told us, not bc we saw evidence that she didn't pay bills. Just as some back info MIL did not have further testing after initial scan, she refused. My mother however went thru all the neuropsychologist testing also. She actually did ok on those exams but when he talked with us we told him how she thought people were following her and stealing her things and her reaction to that was what ultimately made him say likely Alz (I read his notes and reports). Good luck with everything and please respond with what you find out.

dnythrow: Let me ask you-does you mother still drink? If so, it is under control or has it become a crutch?

There is a type of dementia caused by alcohol abuse called Korsakoff syndrome, mainly caused by a thiamine deficiency. If your mother has since stopped drinking and is getting the nutrients she needs, it's possible that her brain has, to some degree at least, recovered.

I echo the others when asking - is she in a nursing home now? Is she cognitively and physically in a state where she can safely go home?

I'm assuming the reassessment is because she has improved. It's possible that the original diagnosis was flawed. That happens quite often because of medication issues, infections or other reasons that are not dementia but cause dementia like symptoms.

I'd say have the reassessment and then talk with the doctor about the results. Talk with your mom. See where her general health stands. Then make the decision.

Please update us when you know!
Thanks,
Carol

There are varying types of dementia....with alzheimers, which my mom has, it most typically starts with short term memory loss...repeating the same thing over and over in a short period of time, not remembering things theyve been told even after a few minutes. If she has no short term memory loss, it probably isnt alzheimers, and could be vascular dementia or one of the other types.

She's in a nursing home? Is that because she has dementia or for other health reasons? Who did the original assessment and what tests did it consist of?
Who is doing this new assessment?

Dementia is not solely memory loss. It's the inability to reason, to do things in the proper sequence and to do things safely. It's lack of judgement, balance, and difficulty processing complex language and thoughts.

A proper workup for dementia is several hours of paper and pencil AND physical testing by a neuropsychologist and a neurologist, in addition to brain imaging. The fact that your mom still knows you is a blessing, but it does not mean that she doesn't have dementia.

My mom still knows all of us, thank God. But left to her own devices, the tries to brush her teeth with deodorant and puts on her outer clothes before her underwear. She also thinks that any time two men in suits walk down the hallway of her nursing home, the place is "changing hands".