Living with Dementia

My mother recently died in September 2010 and it is a challenge for many people to living with this disease on a regular basis.  The dementia victim will lash out and be quite abusive at times to the caregiver.  You must remain strong for yourself and the dementia patient that you are caring for at home.  It is a debilitating disease that can take toll on the whole family.  I wrote about the 7 stages of the disease and hope this will give people a more clear understanding of what to expect in help those with dementia.

There are 7 stages of Dementia similar to those in Alzheimer’s disease. How do you recognize the symptoms:  

The First Stage:  You will not immediately see any apparent signs initially.  Most medical professional do not pick up on the disease at all.  Unfortunately, the disease is still lurking in the brain.

The Second Stage:  Mild memory loss and forgetfulness with words, people’s names, and misplacing items around the house like glasses and a watch.  

The Third Stage:  At this stage most people can be diagnosed.  Forgetfulness will become more obvious, cannot remember something from 5 minutes ago, do not remember anything they read in a newspaper or magazine, constantly lose items around the house and can get organized.

The Fourth Stage:  Can’t remember recent events, can’t perform simple arithmetic like counting backwards.  Unable to get organize and become withdrawn socially.   Trouble in following easy directions.

The Fifth Stage:  Major gasps in memory and need assistance in their daily activities.  Can’t recall their own address, phone number, and school their children attended.  Confused about their location.  Constantly asking for the date and time and does not know the season. The patient fails to recall their home address, telephone number and name of the college or school from which they graduated.  Most dementia victim can still use the bathroom and eat on their own.  At this stage they can still remember their children and spouse.  

The Sixth Stage: The memory worsens at this stage.  Dementia victims do not know where they are and the usual surroundings are no longer similar to them.  Cannot remember part of their past.  You will notice personality changes.  The dementia patient can be belligerent at times.  They will put their shoes on the wrong feet and put their cost on inside out. A lot of sleep disturbance and walking around through the night.  Some patient will even start wandering away from home or get lost in a familiar place.  Mistrust everyone especially the caretaker.  Need assistance using the bathroom.  Episodes of incontinence will increase.   

The Seventh Stage: Know as the late-stage dementia.  The loss of the ability to respond, speak and unable to control bodily movement. Often, patients speech is no longer recognizable and they lose the ability to communicate.  They will say a few phrases occasionally.  They can’t walk, smile, sit, hold their head up, have problems swallowing food and liquids. You will also notice abnormal muscle reflexes.  They need 100% assistance with everything at this stage.