Reply to Withholding Alzheimer’s Diagnosis from the Patient

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a nurse, I engage in therapeutic lies all the time with Alzheimer's and dementia patients.  But this is not what that is.  It sounds like she still is pretty early on in her diagnosis.  The beginning stages of memory loss is often quite scary.  You're aware enough to know you're losing your mind. It's cruel to withhold the diagnosis from her.

Does your FIL even get what the future looks like?  How heartbreaking it is to see your loved one lose all memory of who they are and who their loved ones are?   To lose the basic ability to use the bathroom, bathe themselves, communicate, remember to eat and drink, etc.  I'm a fairly big supporter of physician assisted suicide after what I've witnessed in my career.  [/quote]

NP. I agree and I think it's completely unethical to keep this from your MIL unless that's what she wants. Admittedly, if she has no curiosity about the results of the tests and insists she's fine, then maybe she doesn't really want to know.

Personally, if I end up with dementia and I am able, I want the choice to end my life and not put my family through years of caring for me, or worse, having to warehouse me.[/quote]

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