Aunt who may have Dementia

Ruby777

Regular Member

Joined : Jul 2018

Posts : 40

Posted 7/8/2018 6:26 PM (GMT 0)

Hello everyone, i just wanted to introduce myself. I live in the UK and only recently started to think my loving Aunt may have dementia. Its a difficult situation though. She is 87 and an absolutly lovely person. I think she may have dementia because she now seems forgetful. She repeats herself quite a lot. She tells the same story over and over like it is new information. She forgets dates, and doesn't know what im doing on a particular day and will re-ask even if i have told her. Ive recently noticed she has stopped bathing. The big problem is she wont use any type of doctor, or even get any type of medical advice. When she doesn’t remember something she goes into denial. Says things such as ‘yea i was going to ask about that’ even though it is obvious she has forgotten. I cant get her to a doctor this is impossible. The whole family has tried, her friends have tried. Ive gone to my GP and he said the only thing i can do is get social services to asses her, but she has to be willing, and she is not. Im worried about her and worried about me as im not a carer and i dont know the right things to do or say if she does have dementia. The problem is i dont know so i will most likely say the wrong things. Im also worried that she will get angry at me if she is being forgetful. She also has a lot of vision problems and wont see anyone about that either. Anyway thanks for reading any advice will be helpful.

msOuchie

Veteran Member

Joined : Dec 2011

Posts : 601

Posted 7/9/2018 12:56 AM (GMT 0)

Hello Ruby! Welcome to HW!

Some of these seniors, I'm telling you. Not very helpful. Sorry about your Aunt's state but I'm glad that you check in on her. She doesn't have any Doctors at that age? That's amazing!!

Yes, I've heard those symptoms before with my Mom and Dad and many others. The only way you will know for sure if she has Dementia/Alzheimers is for her to be tested by a Neurologist.

A visiting Nurse whom my Mom liked, let her into her home once in a while. Through time she started asking her questions that would be asked on a test that would be given by a Neurologist. She later gave me a call(Mom had given her my name and # in case of emergency). The results were bleak. I was sad.

I had caught her in instances that reminded me of Dad's symptoms. The Nurse asked if it was okay if she sent a Psychologist assistant to Mom's place to test her. She is qualified for this situation. I gave her my permission. Trouble is when the Nurse asked Mom about the other "Lady' coming over to ask her a few questions, "mom said No". She's not stupid!

Maybe you would have better luck in this type of situation. Or you could be there when she went over. I live 3 hours away from my Mom and my Hubby works.

My Mom has been in a Home for the past 2 1/2 years. We are told just to agree with what she says and to ask her about her younger years. Maybe that will cheer her up. Unfortunately, my Mom only remembers working hard on the farm and not much else about good times. She was always a negative person even though she had lots of fun times in her life. Oh well!

I must be getting into Dementia also. I forgot to log out last night.

Sorry, I couldn't help more.
Good luck! Hopefully, someone else has ideas.

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply