She has a very limited vocabulary - hardly says anything and struggles to get words out and when she does, they do not make sense. I told her I would look into it. Could speech therapy help her after 14 years? She was in a coma for months after stroke and had very little therapy from what my husband and I could see. We were not involved in it, as my FIL was handling it, they were in their early 50's when this happened. Now MIL lives with us and is asking for everything she never got whether it be something of material value or something medically. I've researched possible outcome of getting therapy this late after stroke, and it doesn't look too good. What do others have to say about this?
She wanted to garden and got a local guy to take out old bushes and add new young ones. She went to the library and made new friends and just a few months before she died she insisted on spending money on hearing aids. That was interesting because she hardly ever changed her earrings. So, it was unlikely she would even ever use the hearing aids.
The things is... she could afford to do what she did. She spent our inheritance, but in our family no one counts on anyone else being responsible for us. We all work hard, have our careers and made our own money. So we encouraged her.
It's a different situation from stroke recovery, but an example of someone trying to live life fully toward the other end. Encourage her to do what she wants, if she can do it responsibly.
My mother had more people at her funeral service than I probably would. She had made a lot of friends along the way. Every nurse and doctor liked her. She brightened up for them. She even insisted on getting tested to be able to drive at 92 yrs old and people involved in the assessment liked her.
I'm glad we didn't discourage her from any idea she had. Now she's gone and those are good memories.
She set the example for hopefulness that we all have for the rest of our lives.
One day I saw a sign at the facility about a conversational speaking group for capable people who had suffered sudden strokes or heart attacks and had lost their ability to speak. We went a few times, but due to the Alzheimer's, my husband was not able participate.
Time passed, we have caregivers at home now, and with encouragement, my husband has begun to speak again. It's not always clear what he's saying, but he wants to communicate. With that same encouragement, he is walking more and with beautiful concentration on moving the weak foot and hand.
I can't say that the Alzheimer's is going away, but it feels like he is recovering from the stroke....
For your mother-in-law's sake, find a supportive situation for her to practice her speaking, and see what happens. We can only guess at the frustration at not being able to communicate.
Best wishes to all of you.