My mother had a appointment with her new doctor today. When they weighed her, she was between 68-70 pounds, scale was fluctuating. She was 89.6 pounds on May 22nd when she was discharged from the physical therapy live-in facility. She eats 3 meals a day and has snacks in between meals. Her blood work showed she has an elevated platelet count of 551. Does anyone know what could cause this weight loss and how can I stop it? Can a person be this thin without her vital organs being effected? We are scheduling an MRI. The new doctor questioned the prior doctors diagnosis of dementia as well. Any advice would be most welcomed.
Is she telling you she's eating 3x a day? Or is someone else telling you, or are you there to see it yourself? If she has cognitive or memory impairment then she may mistakenly believe she is eating (my MIL had this problem). I think rehab and facilities usually keep a record of what their patients eat. You may want to request this info and talk to the DOM based on what you find out.
These suggestions are only because they are easy and non-invasive to discount. There are many other reasons she could be losing weight but may require more aggressive testing, which you will need to decide to green light or not. Does your mom have a Living Will (Advance Care Directive) on file with her doctor? I'd check to find out. May you receive wisdom for these decisions and peace in your heart that you're doing the best for your mom.