I know dementia is a progressive disease. I have seen my dad get worse over the 3 years that he has been in a nursing home. So far, he knows who I am and will introduce me as his daughter. But he thinks my mom is the same person as his mom. I don't understand how he can know I am his daughter but think that we have the same mom. He has gotten more restless lately. Is this a sign of a significant change?
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The way I had it explained to me that I liked best was this way: with dementia, they go along at a certain pace for a while, then take a step down. The step down will show significant changes and a decline in cognizance, mobility, fine motor skills, etc. which will be noticeable. They will stay at that level for a while before taking ANOTHER step down, and so on.
Over the past 6 years, I've seen my 92 year old mother take several significant steps down with her dementia, the last one being after a stroke last October. I feel like she's on the cusp of yet another step down nowadays, too, since she's becoming more and more immobile every day, with more and more sleep disturbances as well.
Tough stuff, I know.
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