My question is has anyone seen or heard about an elderly person who was living independently six months ago, and then suddenly becomes totally dependent upon others for all their care in just a matter of a few months? We are baffled has to how someone can go from a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment to severe dementia this rapidly.
Providing your mother does not have a UTI, or that she took a bad fall or had a stroke, which is a real possibility, then her dx of MCI might have been way off the mark when it was handed out. Bear in mind, however, that a stroke is often silent. My mother had a moderate stroke and nobody knew anything about it really. We did notice her balance was a bit worse, her eating was sloppier (spilling food all over herself while eating) and a few other things that weren't too bad. Turned out she did have a stroke, which we found out about 7 months later during a hospitalization and a brain MRI. Her dementia definitely declined after the stroke, but not to the point of being severe.
If you are able to get her a brain MRI, that may answer a lot of your questions.
Wishing you the best of luck!
Has she been to the doctor lately? Maybe she needs you to take her to one to lobby for some tests, at least some blood work.
Your description says she has/gets UTIs so as others said, that's definitely a possibility.
My Mom had a major fall with head trauma as 911 needed to called, and Mom went from being quite independent to moving into long-term-care :( And it turned out from brain scans, this wasn't her first major fall where she had head trauma.
Another possibility is an Urinary Tract Infection, as cwillie had mentioned in her post. An UTI can mimic dementia in older adults, along with an array of other issues. So, have Mom tested for a UTI, at least that can be ruled out or be the actual cause. Antibiotics will help clear up the infection.
stroke or the accumulative effects of multiple TIAs,
acute infections, especially a UTI,
reversible dementias like normal pressure hydrocephalus,
brain tumours,
complications arising from heart or kidney disease,
thyroid problems