My siblings don't want our 84 year old mother tested for dementia.

When my wife was diagnosed, she agreed to an MRI to rule out things like a brain tumor. The results just showed some atrophy but nothing conclusive that would indicate a course of treatment.

Definitely a tough situation.
It can be very hard to do the right thing sometimes.
Overcoming the denial that others have isn't easy.
I tried with my own family, and failed.
I hope you have better luck.

@csinbp Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! I’m glad you found this site. I’m sure some members of this group will respond to you in the morning. But, first, how did you learn about MCC?

Family denial is tough. I guess it's like all things that we must deal with in our own ways.
When trying to prepare my mom's siblings, my uncle would say the same as your siblings, "we all do that."

Hope you find helpful ways to navigate this journey.

Hello, who is your Mom's Power of Attorney? If it's you, you can move forward with contacting her Primary to schedule testing or get referrals.
If you are not her POA, you may need to gather evidence: anecdotes, video evidence, quotes, etc. I started keeping track of all the behaviors and actions of my husband that were 'off', to share with Doc. Build your case. Good luck.

I guess I can understand why you might want test to definitively confirm the cognitive decline.
And at the same time, since there isn't very much that might stop the process, I'm not sure how it will help. Although I recently read research that the new shingles vaccine has helped decrease the decline, so ????? Other medications are sort of "hit and miss". But I'm thinking that having a definitive result would help to do future planning - financial and daily living choices. As I understand many facilities charge a lower entrance but once decline is "officially" underway the entrance fees are significantly higher, so that might be a consideration for future planning choices. Also legally once a diagnosis is made, she might not be legally to sign documents, wills, POA, healthcare proxy, changes in beneficiaries, etc. Lots of things to consider.

@becsbuddy
Thank you, Becky! I bumped into it by mistake! I was searching the Mayo site for other information regarding medications for unrelated health issues, and discovered it when I wanted to learn what real patients said about the side effects, not the ones listed on paper! I joined right away for the other information, and decided to check out more subjects.

@csinbp
Just to clarify, this needs to be a Advance Directive for Health Care Decisions. Not just a Power of Attorney... POA is specifically for finances. The Advance Directive for Health Care Decisions is for Health Care specifically; its a type of Power of Attorney. Then again the Advance Directive is only enacted when a Medical Provider deems the individual unable to make sound decisions and more specifically when addressing a specific issue.
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/advance-care-planning/advance-care-planning-advance-directives-health-care

@gator72 Fortunately all of the documents are in place. We have not yet used the POA, but are fully aware of all the information in it.

Is she driving? If so discuss with her doc if this is appropriate. It may be that convincing her to driving could save her life, or someone else’s.

I agree with above comment that imaging is mostly useful in ruling out other causes of cognitive decline. It doesn’t really help that much if she has dementia. One option is just to assume the worst, you don’t have to discuss this with your family. Just quietly make sure that she is safe. Does she wander? Things of this nature