My dad (age 79) died January 27 of dementia - very rapid decline in the last year. The diagnosis of mild congnitive dysfunction to severe dementia was quick and he died less than a year after being told he had MCD. He also had congestive heart failure and renal failure.
He was in Memory Care since the end of last summer. We went to get him on Labor Day weekend and spend the day at my sisters pool and patio grilling out. That was the last time we saw him conscious and functioning.
My mom is in independant living in the same facility he was and was not allowed to see him other than a few attempts at facetime that he couldn’t participate in very well.
They called us on January 21 and told us we need to get there to see him “sooner rather than later” as they thought he was showing immenent end of life signs. They limited his visitors to 4 - but only 2 at a time. We wanted my mom in there the entire time, so we switched one at a time and let her stay with him . Two extra family members (his grandchildren) showed up to say goodbye also, which made the facility very upset although they still let them in.
We had to wear a face shield and a mask - although we had to share the same face shield as they only had one. The safety and hygiene of this move seemed to have escaped them. He was not conscious during these visits.
The next morning my mom wanted to see him again and was told “he was doing better a little” so they wouldn’t allow her. They finally caved and gave his wife of 59 years “fifteen minutes”. She stayed a half hour. Stupid silly rules.....was there anything she was going to “pass on to him” after fifteen minutes? He was unconscious the entire time still.
January 25 hospice took over and on January 26 they allowed us to see him again and my mom got to spend several hours there, although he remained unconscious. He died later that night.
He spent the last few months of his life not knowing where he was and never saw his family again, which is heartbreaking. Probably even part of his rapid decline was the isolation from his loved ones. He also died 2 weeks after his covid vaccination.
Sorry to hear that story.
Dementia is one of my main fears in terms old age and I expect a lot of other people too.
I have seen decline happen very quickly and it’s a horrible, debilitating disease.
My prayer is to be taken quietly but it’s a complete lottery.
He spent the last few months of his life not knowing where he was and never saw his family again, which is heartbreaking. Probably even part of his rapid decline was the isolation from his loved ones. He also died 2 weeks after his covid vaccination.
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What happened to our senior family members was criminal. At least I had 10 extra years with my folks. (died at 89)
I think we family members need to keep talking about this, let the world know exactly what happened. And hopefully come to peace with the all the suffering.