Expert: Paula Damgaard - 3/16/2008

Question
I am confused as to the stages of Alzheimer it seems like my grandmother has signs from each stage. she was diagnosed with alz. around 1995. she still speaks sometimes clearly sometimes gibberish, almost always knows her name and her husbands name. although does not always recognize him. She cannot do any adl on her own. cannot follow commands. she walks with assistance, is mostly incontinent we do potty her sometimes she goes sometimes not if we tell her to pee she wants to know what that is. sometimes she recognizes a few people most of the time she doesn't. She can be very witty sometimes and come back with a response that is surprising. She can feed herself finger foods but is fed other foods. does not drink very much but will eat anything given to her.
She was put in a nursing home in January of 07 as grandpa could no longer take care of her. The care she received there was non existent was put in a wheel chair, never toileted, and medicated to where she slept most of the time. I moved home and took her out of the nursing home at the end of August 07, she is not on any medicine, she is walked several times a day, so her condition has improved since she has been back home but basically she has been the same since before she went into the nursing home over a year later. how long can this stage last and would you consider her to be mid stage or late stage? Thank you

Answer
Dear Michelle, I personally hate "staging" people.  Mainly for the reasons you state above!  No one is alike and they seem to "float" between stages.  Granted there are definite drops so that obviously your grandmother is no longer in the mild stage, but as you point out there are times she is in the moderate stage and sometimes in the late stage.  How long she can last in this state is totally up to how healthy she is.  

According to the Alzheimer's Association, a person can live 2-20 years from date of diagnosis.  Of course this depends on where they were in the disease process when they were diagnosed, but they can live a while if they are healthy.  Because basically it isn't the disease that takes them, it is the disease destroying their brain, which includes your immune system, which makes you able to fight diseases.  So if you are healthy and your immune system is destroyed, then it will take longer for the diseases your immune system would get rid of for your body to become weak from them.  I hope this makes sense!  

But the real thing is that no one can predict how long someone has.  I would suggest to you that you speak with Hospice.  The reason for this is that they have a program (at least I know they do is some areas) for people who are diagnosed with an neurological disease that is considered terminal.  Alzheimer's is certainly one of those.  They would be able to help you with her care and give her the best quality of life for the time she has left.  

I hope this helps you.  Please feel free to write again, if something is unclear.  Paula