What stage of dementia do you think this is?

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What stage of dementia do you think this is?

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We go to my MIL each weekend. Told her we would be later than usual. Door was locked. Got our key and rang the bell. There's a long entry to the inner door and MIL answers it trying to pull on her robe, but in Full Monty. This is a woman who really cared about having her looks all put together if someone would see her. Asked what she had been doing. Had all her jewelry on the bed going through it. Ok who stands in their room stark naked reviewing their jewelry?
What stage of dementia is this? This was a new behavior.

Alzheimer's & Dementia

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skinonna...its really difficult to put a label on the different stages, even though they're set out in print for us to look at at. Stages can overlap. What one person develops in, say, stage 5, another individual might develop in an earlier or later stage. It also depends upon how slowly or quickly the disease progresses from person to person. Taking items out of a drawer or closet (such as your MIL did with her jewelry) and going through it is common in AD patients. Forgetting to put on clothes or taking their clothes off is also common. My Dad sometimes takes all of his clothes off just to go to the bathroom, and then wanders out into the hall looking for my Mom to help him put it back on again. People's personal habits, such as how they care for themselves, can also change drastically. To pinpoint which stage a person might be in you really need to look at other behaviors which go along with these you've mentioned, as well as how long its been since she's been diagnosed, and even that might not give you an exact stage.

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I agree with Virtualhorizon that an assessment cannot begin to be made by the behavior you've described. Consider the things she did right: 1) knew to answer the door, and where that was 2) knew to cover herself and pull on a robe and where that was 3) knew where to find her jewelry, regardless of the apparent lack of reason for going through it all on her bed. Actually, her behavior could be considered more eccentric than indicative of dementia. What became more apparent as my MIL slipped into mid and late stages was her ability to remember things like anyone's name and relationship to her, how to do even basic things like clean herself up after using the toilet, how to prepare food for herself, ability to feed herself, sundowning from mid-afternoon through the late evening when she finally would succumb to sleep, increased night wakefulness, progressively worse loss of physical things like balance, eye-hand coordination, holding utensils and getting food to her mouth, loss of energy . . . There is just so much and the sequence can be unpredictable, including sometimes seeming to go back to previous stages for periods of time. There is so much helpful information available, and various assessment resources. I would suggest that you consult it so that you can have a more reasonable idea of what to expect. It's a long and winding road and she needs you to understand as much as possible.

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Sorry, so many typos as I'm on my phone, also reading back I hope my answer doesn't come off as rude :)
I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's easy to assume that because they do something abnormal that this means they are automatically into a "next" stage.
I have made this mistake before and my example is this: mom always wore a watch but could no longer read it correctly, this really upset me especially when she would announce outloud that it was already five to ten when it would be something way off like half past two!
I took the watch off her because I told myself she could no longer read a clock.
Months later we were in the supermarket when she said " come on it's twenty past five already let's get going"
I imeadiately thought " mmmm whatever" only to look up at the somewhat small supermarket wall click to see it read 5.20pm. She could read a clock.
She wears her watch now and some days can read it fine and other days had trouble.

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Hi Skinonna,
I agree you can't me black & white with all stages/behaviors, however my mother has early onset alzheimers and this is something she would have done and she too us an elegant lady always dressed beautifully and very reserved.
She has good days and bad. Rummaging through things ( especially jewelry ) or things important to them can become obsessive and she could have easily Ben getting undressed whilst seeing her jewelry- getting sidetracked - deciding she must sort it now... Naked or not.
My mum constantly gets her jewelry out, sorts it, moves it etc
I would say my mom had moderate dementia, I fo care for her full time.. Although she was also doing these sorts if things 3 years ago when she was living on her own with dementia and coping quite well.
What I have learnt over the past 4 years is there are SO many quirky / unexpected things they do but we need to accept them and not make huge reactions of them. My motto is so long as she is not harming herself or anybody else then I take a breath and accept these things.
It's so hard and unforgiving this disease but
personally I feel boxing people into a stage is somewhat damaging. Each person is an individual and their journey is fairly different , so please don't write her off to a stage because of something that is new and confronting to you :)

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Very bizarre illness, one thing for sure is no one with alzheimers should hold a drivers liscense.
As hard as this may be you must take steps to stop her driving, i'm surprised the doctor hasn't already

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I agree with the others, it's hard to determine a definitive stage and it doesn't really matter. What's important is a person's ability to manage their 'activities of daily living'. Though dementia behaviors can run the gamut from maddening to amusing, the ones to look out for are those that are dangerous to the person or to others.

Stripping down and organizing the jewelry isn't dangerous, but wandering the neighborhood that way is. Check in with her neighbors and friends the next time you visit. Ask if they've 'noticed anything'. It could be that she hasn't had much contact with them. That's a sign, too.

I'd search for a community near you now, so that you don't have to find something in a hurry during a crisis. Maybe there's one where someone you know lives already? You can start to prepare your MIL for the idea by taking her there for lunch or an activity when she's visiting you.

Driving should be addressed. It's been my experience that the doctor won't proactively address it. You have to. Send him/her a letter, expressing your concerns and asking that your letter remain confidential.

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I wanted to make a quick comment about driving with Alzheimer's/Dementia. A neuropsychologist explained it this way: If the person with AD was ever in an accident - even if they were completely without fault - once the other party or the other party's attorney or insurance company found out they had been diagnosed or treated for AD, the accident would be determined to be their fault - only because they shouldn't have been on the road in the first place. They would also be able to sue the AD person on a personal level as well. For me, it was extremely difficult to get my husband to stop driving two years ago, but I sleep better at night knowing he will never be involved in an auto accident - or possibly hurting someone else or himself - because I went through the effort to have him not drive any more. Removing someone's independence is horrible, but much needed if they have AD.

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She was diagnosed over 3 years ago. In some ways she seems better than 6 months ago. Taking better care of her personal hygiene. We have taken over all her financial and legal responsibilities, so she has less to "worry" about. She is a worrier. She goes out in the yard and weeds daily, sweeps the garage, digs little ditches. Doesn't cook. Has lost the sense of hunger and is losing weight, but sowly. Often anemic. She is physically active. Sometimes doesn't know the month, almost never the day or date. Perseverates over anything pending. Is usually mad about something we did. Has always been manipulative. Never happy and has used that to manipulate anyone who cares about her to do her bidding. Now that doesn't work (and it never worked with me)and she is very angry about it. Insists she will NEVER leave her house which is 2 1/2 hours away. We've decided to leave her there until the doctor has her license suspended. She still drives. Seems to remember mechanical things the best. This is such a bizarre illness. Seems to have no pattern. I just don't know what will happen next.

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Actually I should have said her "inability to .. ."

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Find with my mom, it's up and down. Some days she's with it and great, other days drifting. It happens even in the same day. One minute she's talking, engaged, later, she is hallucinating or talking to dead sibling. Periods of paranoia come and go, but understand accusations, paranoia, afraid of losing possessions, etc become increasingly frequent. My mom constantly checks and rechecks her mail, her money (stashed in drawers ), jewelry, keys, etc. if she can't find, she accuses someone of stealing. The more forgetful they become, the more these behaviors are pronounced.

I wouldn't panic just yet...I've been there, panicked, worried about moving her to memory care, etc. and the more I educated myself, and calmed down, I realize she manages day to day and can basically take care of herself. As long as she is happy and healthy and not bothered by the episodes I let her be while keeping a close eye on her finances and her overall well being.

My advice is to keep monitoring, document your observations, time of day, etc and bring up to doctor at next visit. He can do tests if you want and may have her further evaluated by neurologist specializing in geriatrics.

What stage of dementia do you think this is?

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