My husband was referred for neuropsych testing in 2014, which resulted in a diagnosis of MCI. He slowly declined over the years, then had a significant precipitous decline, was re-tested and having the tests from 8 years ago as a baseline was really helpful to his PCP and neurologist, he is now diagnosed with vascular dementia with Alzheimer’s features.
Last March, I could no longer manage him at home as he was completely uncooperative with me around his diabetes care- crashed and was in the hospital for 2 weeks before they got him stabilized. He is in an assistive living now and accepts the staff care, but he doesn’t like to shower or change clothes, sleeps in his clothes, including shoes.At home, he would stay up very late on the computer, he still sleeps late and sleeps a lot. His short term memory is very poor- at home he would walk away from turned-on faucets, leave the fridge door open. I taped up reminder signs around the house but I don’t think he really understood their meaning. The watershed moment was when he left the house at night, a neighbor brought him home. It’s hard to accept that point when your spouse is no longer doing well at home- I felt like the frog in the boiling water, everyone has a wonderful story of they or someone they know caring for an elder in”their own home because I would never put them in a place”, well- he is at his most healthiest now than he’s been in a long time with the structure and social opportunities at the assistive living.
One suggestion- I bought a great clock on Amazon- has the date, time, and “area” of the day (“morning, afternoon, evening”), he refers to it often, seems to keep him oriented.
Best of luck to you, it’s a surprising diagnosis and a long road ahead.