My wife is somewhere in stage 6 and I take her to most preventive healthcare visits. She still has routine vid with our primary care doctor, her neurologist, her pulmonologist and our dentist. I take her to our optometrist but she only has her retina and eye pressure checked. Now that she has progressed to a later stage she cannot do the other eye exams.

I’ve stopped having her undergo some preventative screenings like colonoscopies and mammograms. Colonoscopies and any test that requires anesthesia are not done due to the risk of exacerbating her Alzheimer’s. Cologuard is used instead. I had to help position her for the last two yearly mammograms and do not want to put her through that again. Her neurologist and our primary care doctor agree since we would not subject her to treatment or surgery if something is found. The risks are too great.

My husband is in Stage 5 and there won't be any colonoscopies in his future. Standard blood work is fine, and visits to the Neurologist are scheduled. I think that as the disease progresses, we have to ask ourselves "To What End?" when it comes to some of these screenings and procedures, and if our loved ones have already signed Advanced Directives, then we need to be mindful of what they have already chosen for themselves.

Eyes: I had my hubby's eyes checked recently and was with him as he went through the test. He had difficulty with the eye chart and determining which lens was better, etc. so as I watched him go through this, I realized that it may be the last time. He needed new eyeglasses and can't handle bifocals, so he now has a gray frame for distance and blue frame for reading. I ordered a spare set, exactly like the first set, which I've squirreled away in case the main set gets lost.

Teeth: A year ago, the dentist and I agreed that we should "step up" his dental cleanings (now done 3 times a year) because he's not able to do a good job on his own any more, and multiple cavities were found. Cavities get filled but a tooth that couldn't be saved was pulled (which in the past would have been replaced by an implant), because the dentist and I agreed that he wouldn't be able to properly care for an implant as the bone healed, and therefore would risk an infection.

My husband is 78 and probably stage 6. We still see primary care doctor, urologist, neurologist, dentist and eye doctor. Although at his last eye exam he had trouble following the doctor's instructions. His doctor says we don't need to do colonoscopy again(last one in 2017). For us as things progress I will make these decisions with guidance from his primary care doctor who has treated him for 30 years.

I stopped when it became to overwhelming for us both. I stuck to video appointments she had to much stress going through it

I am making the same decisions for my husband. I still take him to the dentist, his primary doctor, the eye doctor, dermotologist and his rheumatologist. Like Jacobsdan, I would not risk anesthesia, and I would not seek treatment for him if he developed a serious disease. I take him to the dermotologist as he is bothered by pre cancer bumps on his scalp and it is kinder to get them removed. I have found his own self dental care has decreased and so the dentist has r3commended deep cleaning to preserve his teeth. Such hard decisions.