I just took my dad (age 84) with Alzheimers and vascular dementia to his cognitive appointment with the geriatrician (his PCP). he scored a 1 on his cognitive test, where last year he scored a 6. he was asked things like day, date, year, draw a box, clock, identify animals none of which he knew or could do. I reported that he has seemed to be having a hard time swallowing, coughing after water a bit, getting a bit "frozen" with water in mouth. Doctor said, this is the first thing they have trouble swallowing and might need to start thickening water. Will start to have a speech therapist to help with strengthening vocal cords - he speaks quietly at times. and a new PT and OT regimen. what shocked me at the appointment was that she said he probably has 1-2 years left. Now, I know it's coming, but to hear it from her was shocking. He was diagnosed around 6-7 years ago, but had signs about 8 years ago. She said he'd probably stop talking soon (already only uses a few words, 1-2 word answers) I've heard of people living a long time without talking, hardly eating, etc. Can she really be right about his time left?
Only God knows that day and time that He'll take your dad Home, but from what you've written it sure doesn't sound like it will be long at all, so just enjoy whatever time you may have left with him.
And quite honestly I don't think that I would put your dad through anymore therapies at all as his brain is so severely broken that he's not going to retain anything at this point anyway. Just let him enjoy whatever time he may have left with out putting him through things that won't help anyway.
Seeing the therapist gives them more social interaction as well.
I think you probably have a good feel for the stamina of your father, how feeble he is but people don’t always die from their major malady. At 84 in the US he has already outlived most men.
He would have a life expectancy of about 6.44 more years with all cause mortality.
But in end stage or nearing end stage Alzheimers, I would expect the doctor to know her patient’s prognosis.
How fit he was in his middle years makes a difference as well as it acts as foundational strength.
The speech therapy is really important for all the reasons mentioned.
Additionally all the therapies are beneficial for the caregiver. You aren’t looking to cure him or restore him but to keep him comfortable, stretched and able to transition. The therapist can teach you how to better manage him w/o hurting yourself or hurting him. Their evaluation when they see him can help you decide.
The average life expectancy for a male born today is 76.5.
Sometimes it helps to put it all in perspective.
Please allow him to rest and be comfortable with help from hospice now. By the time swallowing becomes an issue with AD and dementia, it's time for hospice to step in. They will provide some help for mom also in the way of bathing and providing a hospital bed and free supplies, but not too much else. The chaplain is good to talk to about fear and distress.
I'msorry you're going through this and wish you good luck and Godspeed with a difficult situation.
I don't believe anyone can accurately determine how long a person will live.
Every individual is, well, individual.
Please talk with the speech therapist about safe feeding and drinking. They are the professional to guide you on this. They can do a "swallow test".
Don't worry so much about strengthening vocal cords and trying to improve his speech. And don't expect much. Instead, find alternate ways of communicating, such as with hand gestures, a communication board, which is essentially printed words or pictures the person can point to. For my husband, I printed up the alphabet in large font on a standard sheet of paper, completely filling up the page. He is able to point to letters to spell what he wants when I can't understand his garbled speech.
You may just need to learn to read his mind, read his body language, and anticipate and understand what his needs are when he is unable to ask.
And, please learn about dysphagia and how to feed him safely. With dementia, he may not know how to eat safely, or what is safe to eat. You will need to thicken liquids. Stay away from those huge cannisters of starchy thickeners at the drug store. Try Nestle Resource Thicken-Up Clear. Or Hormel Thick & Easy Clear. Trust me on this. I've been doing this for 10+ years. In my case, my husband is not really declining with a progressive disease. He suffered a massive stroke which caused significant brain damage, and is classified as vascular dementia.
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