Hello all,
My first post here, be gentle with me!
A bit of background, I am currently caring for my Dad who is almost 73 following a further decline in his health since the end of last year. I have been caring for him informally for a long time due to mental health issues but it has since become necessary for me to give up work to be able to provide the care he needs.
Dad was diagnosed following a stroke in 2019 which left him in hospital for around 7 weeks. In the year leading up to the stroke, I had begun to notice some problems with his cognition, not being able to find the words he was looking for, problems driving, not being very good with timekeeping and getting to appointments, that sort of thing. He made a fair recovery from the initial stroke and then had two further mini strokes at the end of last year, the mini strokes left him completely without speech although this has since returned.
Anyway, getting to the crux of the matter, before this, I had always thought that dementia was a gradual decline and at a recent carers meeting, I explained that I feel like I never know what I will find with Dad on any given day. Some days he seems very well in himself and can carry a good conversation and then the next day he really really struggles. Or we will have a week of seeming pretty good, then the illness creeps back in again
I was told this is typical of Vascular but I would really appreciate some feedback from others who have experience of vascular and are willing to share please? Is this typical of your experience? Periods of illness and wellness?
Thank you