My mom has been in assisted living for 5 weeks and she has lost 12 pounds during this time. She weighs only 80 pounds. Now she is refusing to eat and says that she doesn't want to eat because it will make her sick. She also seems to have no sense of taste and has difficulty swallowing. She won't drink any kind of shakes or nutritional drinks. I don't know what to do. She has vascular dementia and alzheimers. Could she be in the later stages of the disease even though she is still mobile and able to dress herself? She told me today that she didn't think she could live much longer like this.
place.When my mom was in rehab she did the same thing
Abby33-Have you asked her why she thinks it will hurt her to eat? My MIL had a 911/ICU situation due to C-Diff infection. When she was healing she needed to eat real food but refused, combatively saying it would hurt her. What she was remembering was a visitor snuck food in and fed her soup--WITH AN N/G TUBE IN, so MIL had a horrible, near fatal setback. Due to the setback a different antibiotic was used (I had the same antibiotic through PICC so I could talk to her first hand) and it makes taste and smell have sulfuric odor & taste. Once I explained her fears and what she was basing them on was real, she agreed to try to eat. Starting with a couple bites a day, now she is in REHAB eating up a storm. We have to remember that even though their complaints seem unfounded to us, 99% of the time there is a valid reason behind them.....to them. Keep plugging away Abby....you have a great heart for her.
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