Hello. My dad suffered a bout of delerium (brought on by new medication) in February. He was in the hospital for three weeks and since then has endured dehydration, weight loss, hallucinations, dementia like symptoms and finally a new feeding tube. Prior to his hospitalization he was driving, walking well, involved in church and experiencing some mild hearing and cognitive issues. Not bad for an 88 year old. Doctors now surmise he has dementia. Several tried to persuade us not to do a feeding tube.
We have taken him off the seroquel prescribed in the hospital as it does nothing but drug him out and cause him to sleep all day. Bear with me for the question here...he has not walked (except for a quick step to pivot from bed to chair) for three months. PT had almost signed off on him because there was no progress. Today however he has been walking with assistance CONSTANTLY...getting up by himself, walking with caregivers. Trying to get around. This is both good and bad...with this new walking he cannot be left alone and even though we have 24/7 caretakers, the worry is he will fall or get out of his hospital bed in the millisecond they aren’t looking or are sleeping. I am grateful for his progress, but a little scared of the additional care this means...anyone heard of this type of turnaround? Not sure what to make of it. Anyone else experience a quick onset dementia? I’d always thought Alzheimer’s or dementia was a long slow road...
Have they done any brain scans or anything?
I think physically he could be rested enough for things to have healed or maybe something clicked in his head. Human bodies are wonderously created.
All of those estimates are based on some one with a degree in something else and very little experience in our field of expertise.
I look at my wife, Luz, as an example. In just under three years she was diagnost and passed away. While others have been doing this for many years.
all of them forgot to ask this disease what it wants to do.
Luz shocked all of us when she was in rehab. she needed wheel chair to get around, even to just go to the bathroom. I would set up the chair and assist and clean her to and from the bathroom. That is until one night she got up on the opposite side of the bed and while I ws setting up the chair, she reached out and grabbed the wlaker and was going before I could get to her .Boy was I shocked. When finished she went to the doorway and peered out and shocked the Nursing Director as well as the shift RN, who was standing outside of her door.
From then on she did not need the chair and the walker was just for looks.
Who would have thought that fifteen months later she would pass away. And that was just a few weeks after being discharged from home health visits and doing very well.