Expert: Paula Damgaard - 9/6/2009

Question
I'm really worried about my Nana in the past 3 weeks she has become very hard to wake up,today it took 45mins to wake her up,the nurse  thought she might have passed away and checked her pulse which is very concerning as before I could wake her up as soon as I kissed her also she has lost interest in food.

she was diagnosed 6yrs ago with AD but I think she's had it since 1995,In 2006 she had a stroke which left her paralyzed on the left side,she cant walk ,she's incontinent,she has swallowing problems and she can't say more than a few words  and she stares for ages without blinking also she  not opening her eyes all the way which started about 2 weeks ago.

so my question is a these symptoms normal with stage 7 of AD and is this a sign  the end is near ? As I've noticed a huge difference in her over the passed 3weeks(I see her every weekend)

Thank you in advance xxx

Answer
Jackie, these are all normal signs for end stage.  Many times the patients, I think decided  they have had enough.  So they stop eating, drinking etc., while this is hard for you, I am sure if she had been given the choice she would never have chosen to live out her life this way.  

I would suggest that you accept her decision to shut down and allow her to go peacefully.  She doesn't really have any quality of life left and anything that is done to keep her going is only going to give her quantity of life not quality.  Everyone deserves quality.

I am sorry you have to go through this I hope you have lots of support.  Take care of yourself. Paula