She has moderate dementia, will be 96 in a month. She has what drs call chronic bursitis and is in a lot of pain that we cannot calm. She is spending more time in the wheelchair because of the pain also. She barely eats so I try to find things that are high calorie in a small amount of food. What I worry about is she constantly wants to sleep up to 17 hours a day. Is this common with age? Dementia? Pain? We give her as much over the counter pain meds as is safe. We are at a loss right now as to whether to try to keep her up or just let her sleep.
Pain is horrible and it's exhausting and daunting to deal with. No one should have to endure it if there is an option. Hospice offers an option.
Best of luck to you all.
His dementia advanced, he slept more and ate less. Hospice made sure he was as comfortable as he could be though he never complained of any physical pain.
Hospice can provide meds to keep her pain levels at a more manageable level.
I wish you and your family the best.
With the pain level, the increased sleeping and decreased food intake you might want to contact Hospice.
As she declines you will need more help and equipment to care for her. You will get the supplies, equipment and help from Hospice.
My husband in the last 6 months of his life was sleeping anywhere from 18-20 hours a day. He was under hospice care in our home for the last 22 months of his life, and suffered from a lot of pain as well.
The nice thing with hospice is that they will supply a hospital bed for her if needed, along with any other needed equipment, supplies and medications, all covered 100% under your MIL's Medicare. They also will have a nurse come once a week to check on her and her vitals, and will have aides come about twice a week to bathe her.
So you may want to have her doctor order hospice for her, as they will get started right away.
Your profile says she's living in Independent Living? Hopefully she's not living alone with you as her part time caregiver, b/c with dementia & all this pain, she really requires 24/7 care now
Here is a link to a chart showing the stages and symptoms of dementia and what to expect:
https://www.dementiacarecentral.com/aboutdementia/facts/stages/
Wishing you the best of luck with a difficult situation.