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Originally Posted by Clodfobble
I had heard of this phenomenon, but thought it was largely if not entirely reversible with antibiotic treatment.
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I suppose in many cases it is; in my mom's case, it just wasn't. I don't know why.
I should note that mom had been exhibiting some relatively innocuous dementia behaviors for about a year before all of this - possibly as a result of two small strokes she'd had in 2014.
For example, she'd convinced herself that my frail, 90-year old dad was having an affair and bringing his mistress to the house, and that this mistress was moving things/rearanging her kitchen cabinets and drawers just to mess with her (after all, she knew SHE didn't throw out all her coffee cups, and dad certainly wouldn't concern himself with where she kept her pastry cutter, so it
had to be another woman). That belief wasn't enough to affect her day-to-day ability to function and care for herself and her home, so whenever she'd call with another story, I'd listen and counsel her as best I could, and things would be fine for another three or four months. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The UTI apparently just pushed her past the "return-from-dementia" zone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble
Her dementia stayed even though they successfully treated the UTI?
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Mom was in the hospital for eight days. She checked in on a Tuesday evening with a bowel blockage. By Wednesday evening, the docs had cleared the blockage, but she had become disoriented and combative with hospital staff. I arrived Thursday morning about when the UTI was discovered, and a course of antibiotics was ordered, but apparently by that time the dementia had locked itself in. (?)
She was released once the infection had been knocked down. By that time, she was less combative, but increasingly distressed and exit-seeking, and had developed a pretty strong case of Sundowner Syndrome.
She spent a month in a very good (and very expensive) Alzheimer's/dementia facility, and with their care and attention, she became much more "there," far less distressed and agitated. The dementia was still there - her particular obsession was that everyone around her was involved in a secret sex ring, which she called the Red Ribbon Club, and that people were always stealing her money (which she didn't have any of, so . . . ), but the need for constant watching and tending dropped significantly.
Once I found a place with a room large enough for
both my folks (surprisingly hard to find, as most of these places have very small bedrooms suitable for only one), I moved them in. Evidently the Red Ribbon Club followed her there. She confided in me that everyone there was having sex on the roof for a dollar, and that my dad was a regular participant.
Mom always knew who I was, but she sometimes thought my dad was her father, other times she thought he was some random roommate. I'd say she was coherent and all there about 50% of the time, although that declined steadily over the following 10 months (at which point I had to move her to a nursing home, due to a fall that resulted in a fractured back).
I have a feeling that mild Alzheimer's/dementia is far more pervasive than we think. I hope and pray that medical research and drug trials lead to better treatments and outcomes. It's a shitty way to go.