Hello all - I just wondered if any of you had experienced this one. My Mom has been in a Alz. Wing of a nice NH since July. She had just started using a walker from a fall at that time. By Christmas, she was in a wheelchair but receiving PT on and off. Two days ago the nurse told me she found Mom walking down the hallway hanging onto the rail? Walking? The last time I saw her even try to stand up, she couldn't remember how. Did she suddenly 'remember how'? From what I've read here, there are other behaviors that come and go, like swallowing, etc., which I've been tracking from one stage to another. I've been thinking Mom was quite close to stage 7 but now? She's still extremely weak (86) and shaky but to hear she can walk again? Wow -
And three weeks ago she held an extremely lucid conversation with me - alas, that was three weeks ago, not now.
You can say a lot of things about this disease, 99% of the bad but you can't say it's boring?

My stepmom walks on her own at times. Usually when I step out of the room for a few minutes. She needs a walker and a lot of assistance to walk safely, and she's ALWAYS "scared" to stand up and walk. But the getting up and walking by herself is something she just does by rote. If she isn't thinking about it, she isn't scared... she doesn't think that she CAN'T do it. She does it unthinkingly... just gets up and walks.

NDuke - thanks for sharing your story. My Mom hasn't walked period for over three months. So this just slays me. I don't know what to think other than it's that dimmer-switch action Johanna C. has referred to occasionally. Such a suprise - a nice suprise for a change even if temporary.

I am so glad that you posted your story...My mom is in stage 7 and in hospice care...she will be down in bed--not able to lift her head, etc one day and up and walking the next day.
I asked hospice what is going on and they basically said that sometimes the brain will surge to survive and they will get up and do things that they shouldn't be able to do...I call my mom the "Ever ready bunny".....she has days that she just walks herself to death around the lockdown alz. ward...no one can stop her...then we go to the other extreme for awhile. She has a wheelchair and we have found her standing up and pulling her wheelchair behind her!!!!
This disease never ceases to amaze me.....

hi ljb58 - thanks for responding. It's a tuff roller coaster ride isn't it? I think they should add a stage to the 'stages' - maybe the 'wait a minute, i've changed my mind' stage? LOL! If ever there was ' a day at a time' message, this has got to be it!
How long has your Mom been in 'stage 7' with hospice? I've been thinking about Hospice lately just for more one on one people time for my Mom because I can't be there every day.
thanks for responding -
Deep breaths...

Hi Beth---it is so nice to meet you. Sounds like our moms are very similar...My mom is 85...She has always had a strong determination..She was one of 11 children and the oldest.
Her invalid grandmother took her and 3 other siblings to raise. My mom took care of her grandmother and siblings till she got married at 19...She has always been the strong one in the family and the one that everyone depended on...
She took care of my dad till he passed away in 2000. It took a great toll on her but she wouldn't let anyone help her. We finally got hospice involved and they did help her a lot.
She went to the assisted living facility in 2006 and really loved having friends there to talk to and have safety at the same time...I was so happy for her that she had a yr. of having "freedom" but she was safe...She declined rapidly and we were asked to move her to locked down alz. area of the facility in 2007... She was prob. in stage 5/6 at that time and they were concerned about her being safe.
The way she got into hospice care was that she was evaluated immediately by her family doctor and she had the "memory test" and failed it....He called and requested hospice care for her and we were accepted in April, 2007-- but they dropped her in July as she was "too active". One month later she was accepted again because of rapid weight loss and fraility. She has now been with hospice almost 9 months because she has lost over 40 lbs. and is having swallowing problems and muscle wasting. She no longer knows me and most of the time she doesn't make a sentence--just mumbles... Except for the roller coaster highs that we are experiencing right now for the last week...I love your "new stage" that needs to be added...lol You know, no one told me about these surges...so it has been quite a surprise...
I would talk to your moms doctor about having hospice evaluate your mom for care. He has to refer her...
It is a wonderful group of people and they are there for you and your mom...sometimes we laugh together and sometime we cry together...I don't know what I would do without hospice. They are that extra set of eyes for your mom...
I even got hospice to bathe my mom as my mom refused to let the cna's bathe her....the hospice aide is so kind and patient and my mom loves her.... My mom is in the end of her life stage now and could pass at anytime but still is fighting with everything she can muster...I ask God to take her home soon as this is just so sad to see her like this.
Please feel free to let us know how your mom is and if you do get hospice care for her.... my prayers are with you and your mom......