My mother has been in AL for five months and is doing very well. We have an excellent relationship. I see her once a week and we speak on the phone every other day. Her caregivers are lovely, and the supervisory staff responds quickly and thoughtfully.
Mom obviously has dementia but has never had a medical workup/official diagnosis. I'm wondering if I should ask for one, and if so, why? I don't know how a diagnosis would change anything about how we help her manage her life, or how we interact with her. TIA.
My LOs POAs were active the minute they were signed. No need for testing to activate it as it’s legality did not depend on incompetence.
Read the POA to see when your moms is in force, under what circumstances.
Sometimes it is not clear if a person has a specific dementia. Sometimes a person has more than one type. My DH aunt found the testing stressful and was able to realize that her memory was worse than she had originally thought. Your mom may not mind it. I wanted her tested in order to learn what I could in regard to where she should live, what medications might help and which should be avoided.
I can’t really say it was helpful beyond giving me the assurance I was doing all I could for her and to establish a base line. She tolerated the MRI which was interesting but not that revealing.
Your mom sounds like a sweetie and that things are going well. You are doing a great job.