I received my mom's death certificate today in the mail. I wanted to have a copy because I was curious to see what the cause of death was and also to see what other things were written on it since my youngest brother had POA and I knew there would be things that didn't make sense or were untrue.

Her cause of death is written as "Acute Cardiopulmonary Arrest and Cerebrovascular Accident"? WTF? She didn't have a heart attack! Is this what it's suppose to say? There is no mention of Alzheimer's, Dementia, or complications of __________???
I don't get it!
I knew there would be things on the certificate that weren't true or not correct also.

Can it be changed or corrected? My brother has screwed up everything!

If I'm correct patients with dementia/alz upon their death won't be categorized as passing from that disease??? Might be heart failure, etc.

You know my cousin was an alcoholic and upon his death, his death certicate read: renal failure---- no mention of alcoholism.

Some very knowledgeable people on this site who've had a Lo pass from this disease can better tell you what their certicate read.

Best to you and sorry for the passing of you LO!! Know they are now at peace~

My husband passed away in Jan. of this year. His death certificate said he died of Alzheimer's Disease. I was a little shocked(a good kind of shocked) because others on this board had said their LO's certificate had other "cause of death" listed. I feel the more certificates that say Alzheimer's Disease as cause of death, the more money for research will be found. I really think it depends on the person who fills the cert out as to what cause of death will be. I am so sorry for your loss.

Sarah,
My mom's death certificate says that the primary cause of death was Alzheimer's Disease.

I wonder if you can contact the physician that certified the cause of death and talk to them? I am not sure if the death certificate can be changed or not, but it is worth a try. You may get some insight from that physician too.

It is true what Granny said...one of the ways federal funding is allocated for medical research is based on how many people have died from the disease.

Good luck,

Mari

My mom just passed in April. She had Hospice care and their nurse is the one who recorded all the information. She put cause of death as Alzheimer's and that is what was on the death certificate. I was glad to see it because, as mentioned earlier, we need the research.

The Hospice doctor is the one that signed the death certificate and in the 2 or 3 times that he popped in to see my mom during a 1 week period, he never really checked my mom.
I would rather have it say Alzheimer's. The other funny thing is that my mom was never in the hospital for anything yet my brother put her in an unskilled facility that claims to be a rehab for alzheimer's dementia patients.

My dad died in April and we were pleasantly surprised to see his cause of death listed as alzheimer's disease.

I do recall another person on this site getting her mother's death certificate changed because it didn't list AD. You might check and see what you can find out. I believe you would have to call the hospice doctor and have them make the change. Could at least add "due to complications from Alzheimer's". Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by SueGall:

I do recall another person on this site getting her mother's death certificate changed because it didn't list AD. You might check and see what you can find out. I believe you would have to call the hospice doctor and have them make the change. Could at least add "due to complications from Alzheimer's". Good luck.

Thanks!

Dear Sarah12,

I'm so sorry for your loss.
Acute Cardiopulmonary arrest and Cerebralvascular accident (CVA) could mean she stopped breathing due to a stroke and then her heart stopped. Could that be what happened?
I agree I wish more death certificates would read Alzheimer's Disease for all the statistics and research.

I have EOAD and my Mom has AD. You are in my thoughts and prayers,

quote:

Originally posted by Lisa 428:
Dear Sarah12,

I'm so sorry for your loss.
Acute Cardiopulmonary arrest and Cerebralvascular accident (CVA) could mean she stopped breathing due to a stroke and then her heart stopped. Could that be what happened?
I agree I wish more death certificates would read Alzheimer's Disease for all the statistics and research.

I have EOAD and my Mom has AD. You are in my thoughts and prayers,

I was with my mom for 1 week 24/7 and she didn't have a heart attack. My mom had told the caregivers at the facility on Easter Sunday 4/12 that she felt odd and wanted to see all her children. The hospice doctor came on Monday afternoon, didn't even check my mom and right away told us..."She's dying." We were all left speechless!
On Tuesday my mom started talking to us and all of a sudden things changed. We didn't know what to do because this was something none of us had ever been through and didn't get any good explanation from the doctor on Monday. He saw her again, checked her with his stethscope and all of a sudden says he's surprised to see my mom trying to pull through and that it was all in God's hands. He didn't offer to do anything just mentioned that if we wanted to, to give her Ensure, water, or gatorade. Oh and just comfort her. I was with her day & night because the facility didn't have any nurses or anyone to monitor or do anything for her. I was finally sent a caregiver from Hospice to give me a hand and stay with me. A couple of nurses from hospice came in to inject her with antibiotics and also insert suppositories.
My mom kept on going til Monday April 20th. Her BP and pulse started dropping fast that morning. I was there watching her, talking to her and then stepped out for like 5 mins and then she was gone! *crying*
I think she passed cause she was dehydrated and because of what the stupid Alzheimer's does to our LO's.

I hate, with a passion, what it did to my mom, everyone's LO and to everyone else!

Dear Sarah12
I can understand your frustration with the death certificate mistake. You know her cause of death and they said something different. Until you report the difference you will have no peace with it. I suggest you call the county where she died to ask what process it would take to change the cause of death. When mistakes were on Pat's death certificate, I called the funeral home that had sent me the 2 copies at the time of their handling the issue, and they told me to write the changes on the top right and they would make the changes with the county and future death certifications would be correct. But that was not the cause of death in her case. In your case I think you would need to contact the county to find out the procedure to follow as a witness to her death for the changes that need to be made and corrected. You will be directed to the right place for death certifications when you call I suspect if you don't know. Look up on the internet for Birth, Marriage, Death (BMD)certifications (I did genealoy searches). You'll at least be able to find the right place to call.

I don't understand how a doctor can write cause of death incorrectly, and it should be reported. Hospice doctors should be more sympathetic to this issue, as their specialty is with the dying.

Feel better. I see you are dealing with the anger phase (red face). I can't remember feeling anger with all this, just sadness. Think my anger is express in other ways I guess.

Thank you Little Sister Kathy. You are just too sweet.

I'm angry because my mom's wishes were ruined by my younger brother's greed & lies.
I'm angry because my younger brother broke up our family.
I'm angry because my brother took advantage of my mom and because he took her from her home.
I'm angry because my brother kept my mom's diagnosis from us and we didn't know.
I'm angry because of all the hurt my brother has caused and for many other things.
I'm angry because it wasn't suppose to end this way.

Sarah12,

You have a right to feel angry! Your beloved Mother is gone and your brother has messed up your family. What you are feeling is very normal. Perhaps you can find a support group and speak directly with others like yourself who are going through the same things and feelings??

Please, come back and share more with us.

My thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.

My mom passe away 3 months ago and on her death certificate the cause of death was dehydration and malnutrition. And that was a big slap in the face. And now I can"t forget that my Mom starved to death as her body shut down due to the alz. Not a memory I really want.

My Mom's death certificate listed the primary cause as Heart Attack with a contributing cause of Dementia.

I sure wish more doctors would put the real cause of death as AD/dementia. It would help with research and funding!

I'm still upset over this. I haven't called anyone to ask questions about changing the cause of death, been dealing with other issues my dear brother continues to do.
Never ending BS!

My dads had said


Sepsis---Dementia


So at least there was my doc writing what he told me he would.

I got Momma's death certificate back this week and the cause of death listed is dementia!

I really hope the DHHS is keeping a careful eye on how many deaths are cause by and type of dementia.

I don't think Dementia actually kills. Dementia is the gradual loss of intellectual function.
By reading several articles and still doing my own research, I learned that there are several types of Dementia.
Alzheimer's disease is defined as a form of dementia characterized by the gradual loss of several important mental functions.

click here

I am still confused as to what my mom really had because during her last couple of weeks, she would blow me away by things that she would tell me to do. She knew she was dying and she actually told me to contact an older half brother of mine to let him know what was happening. She also told me to contact other people and that I should know which ones. She then asked me.... "DO YOU THINK THEY'LL REMEMBER ME?"
That tore me up and I cried answering, "of course they will remember you, we all will."

*crying*

Hi Sarah Just saying hi. Isnt it remarkable how our moms had these sparks of clarity once in awhile? My mom did that too. This disease is so mysterious.

My mom's neurologist said the disease is always eventually terminal. I think if something doesnt cause death first, then AD causes the body to shut down little by little, thus causing death. Whatever, it's horrible.

Hope you are doing okay. Nice to read your posts on here.

Mari

Hi : My moms death certificate states congestive heart failure as the primary reason and Dementia as the secondary reason.

Mom's is listed as a stroke, (that long word they use instead of "stroke") with dementia as a secondary cause of death.

quote:

Originally posted by Vonmott:
My mom passe away 3 months ago and on her death certificate the cause of death was dehydration and malnutrition. And that was a big slap in the face. And now I can"t forget that my Mom starved to death as her body shut down due to the alz. Not a memory I really want.

That would chap me royally. Like you could help avoid this. Geez...

quote:

Originally posted by Sarah12:
Thank you Little Sister Kathy. You are just too sweet.

I'm angry because my mom's wishes were ruined by my younger brother's greed & lies.
I'm angry because my younger brother broke up our family.
I'm angry because my brother took advantage of my mom and because he took her from her home.
I'm angry because my brother kept my mom's diagnosis from us and we didn't know.
I'm angry because of all the hurt my brother has caused and for many other things.
I'm angry because it wasn't suppose to end this way.

Hi Sarah,
My mother died May 23, 2009 and her death certificate said primary cause Alzheimer's and secondary dementia.

I also wanted to say I'm sorry for the pain you have over difficult family issues. My family too was almost destroyed by my mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and the many decisions we had to make for her care. Decisions we fought bitterly over and caused years of estrangement due to disagreement. The disease is difficult enough, but add a dysfunctional family to the mix, and the whole situation becomes toxic.

I hope that you find peace eventually with your mother's death as well as the rest of your family. You may think it will never happen, but time is a miracle worker. I have healed and accepted and reconciled with my family to a certain extent, but it's taken nearly 9 years, and time has healed my wounds. I've also matured and understand things much better than I did before.

Peace to you.

Many years ago my mom passed away after following the stages of AD perfectly. We were pleased that the cause of death was dementia Alzheimer's type. My family and I were concerned about the history of dementia in my mom's family so we had an examination done of her brain so we would "know for sure" that it was AD. Well the results were that there was a "low probability" that she had AD using one set of criteria, however using the "Kachaturian" criteria she did meet the criteria. We thought it would have been so easy ....why couldn't just one thing be easy! And now we have to wait and see which one of us get's it...with every lost item or forgotten appointment...is this it? or is it normal for a 60 + person?

Hi Wondering --
I too am wondering. A neighbor walks 4 dogs frequently by my house. I asked him their names the other night and he told me. Do ya think I can remember them now? (I can remember 1!!)

A friend and I drove through a city we use to spend a lot of time in but havent been in for a long time. So many businesses have changed since we were last there. We would look at one place and say "that use to be [???] restaurant! We still cant remember the name of the restaurant!

My mom passed away from AD in February. Now I worry that every time I forget a name or word that I have it. When my dad passed away from cancer 32 years ago I thought every pimple I got was cancer. Maybe I am just paranoid. (OMG -- that's a symptom too, isnt it?)

Maybe I will start a new post using your post and see how many of us out there are worried about this.

Mari

quote:

Originally posted by Wondering what lies ahead:
....why couldn't just one thing be easy! And now we have to wait and see which one of us get's it...with every lost item or forgotten appointment...is this it? or is it normal for a 60 + person?

My thoughts on the subject are simple:

Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Take it easy and enjoy life. Worry does no good.