markb4 902 Posted August 25, 2018 Comedian Tim Conway is suffering from dementia apparently and is "almost entirely unresponsive". https://people.com/tv/tim-conway-dementia-daughter-asking-conservatorship/ 1 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Creep 7,070 Posted August 25, 2018 17 minutes ago, markb4 said: Comedian Tim Conway is suffering from dementia apparently and is "almost entirely unresponsive". https://people.com/tv/tim-conway-dementia-daughter-asking-conservatorship/ So sad, he was comic genius in 1970s. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,228 Posted August 25, 2018 Better known to my generation as Barnacle Boy from Spongebob (but yes, I know he has done so much more in his career)... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Mad Hatter 1,092 Posted August 28, 2018 http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/08/28/bob-newhart-says-carol-burnett-star-tim-conway-is-receiving-most-devoted-care.html According to this article he needs a speech therpist to help him with eating and is almost unresponsive. If he makes it through this year then he is a must for 2019 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markb4 902 Posted August 28, 2018 Yeah, I agree that he should be considered for 2019 as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,228 Posted August 28, 2018 Similar articles showed up for Neil Simon last year iirc, and he became a deathlist hit this year. I’d say Conway is a good pick for the list. Question is whether he can make the drop 40 next year or not... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny kiltrunner 553 Posted August 28, 2018 Gotta beg to differ here. He has acting credits as recently as 2016, so the idea that his dementia has progressed to the point of being unresponsive and having trouble swallowing is not likely. It just doesn't move that fast. If he us truly in that state, then the more likely scenario is a stroke, perhaps on top of early stages of dementia. Strokes aren't progressive, so unless he has another one, he could potentially last another decade with excellent care, which he will surely get. I'd put the over/under at 4 years. Of course having said that, he could die tonight, since he is elderly, but I wouldn't bet on it. Dementia/Parkinsons/ALS are fool's gold in dead pooling, imo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clorox Bleachman 2,436 Posted August 28, 2018 9 minutes ago, Skinny kiltrunner said: Gotta beg to differ here. He has acting credits as recently as 2016, so the idea that his dementia has progressed to the point of being unresponsive and having trouble swallowing is not likely. It just doesn't move that fast. If he us truly in that state, then the more likely scenario is a stroke, perhaps on top of early stages of dementia. Strokes aren't progressive, so unless he has another one, he could potentially last another decade with excellent care, which he will surely get. I'd put the over/under at 4 years. Of course having said that, he could die tonight, since he is elderly, but I wouldn't bet on it. Dementia/Parkinsons/ALS are fool's gold in dead pooling, imo. If he has trouble swallowing then that's a sign that the dementia is ruining his brain function. From there it's a slippery slope towards not being able to eat solid food, then requiring a feeding tube, then other bodily functions going... 10 years would be a miracle. He might physically last that long, but if he were your loved one, would you let him live in such a dire condition for years? In that case, Zsa Zsa also got "excellent care". One to watch in 2019. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny kiltrunner 553 Posted August 28, 2018 Totally agree with you, but what I'm saying is that dementia doesn't progress to that stage in 2 years, so if that truly is his condition, then it is due to something else, most likely a stroke. If you survive that kind of stroke, there is no reason for any resulting disabilities, including swallowing, to continue to get worse, barring further strokes. Likely won't get much better, either, though. This is unlike dementia, which is guaranteed to continue to get worse and will eventually lead to a total inability to swallow at all, and then death, likely from pneumonia or infection secondary to aspiration. Feeding tubes are rarely used for dementia any more, because the realization is that it is a temporary benefit at most, and eventually dementia patients will aspirate on their own saliva anyway if it comes to that. You also usually have to restrain the patients hands and arms to keep them from pulling it out, so a very poor option. Much better a quick end from a heart attack or massive stroke, or my choice for me might be a long one way hike into the wilderness. Unfortunately we don't get to make this choice- by the time things got bad enough for us to consider doing it, we would no longer have the ability to plan it and carry it out. So, yes one to watch, but not imminent barring further medical catastrophe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,330 Posted August 28, 2018 He won't make 2019 when dementia affects the swallowing mechanism it is essentially over.It is a last rites scenario. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,330 Posted August 28, 2018 1 hour ago, Skinny kiltrunner said: Totally agree with you, but what I'm saying is that dementia doesn't progress to that stage in 2 years, so if that truly is his condition, then it is due to something else, most likely a stroke. If you survive that kind of stroke, there is no reason for any resulting disabilities, including swallowing, to continue to get worse, barring further strokes. Likely won't get much better, either, though. This is unlike dementia, which is guaranteed to continue to get worse and will eventually lead to a total inability to swallow at all, and then death, likely from pneumonia or infection secondary to aspiration. Feeding tubes are rarely used for dementia any more, because the realization is that it is a temporary benefit at most, and eventually dementia patients will aspirate on their own saliva anyway if it comes to that. You also usually have to restrain the patients hands and arms to keep them from pulling it out, so a very poor option. Much better a quick end from a heart attack or massive stroke, or my choice for me might be a long one way hike into the wilderness. Unfortunately we don't get to make this choice- by the time things got bad enough for us to consider doing it, we would no longer have the ability to plan it and carry it out. So, yes one to watch, but not imminent barring further medical catastrophe. The acting credit may only have been released two years ago but filmed a while before that.Two years is quick to go from well enough to work to being unable to swallow.My guess is he has had several TIAs as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Mad Hatter 1,092 Posted August 28, 2018 2 minutes ago, Sean said: The acting credit may only have been released two years ago but filmed a while before that.Two years is quick to go from well enough to work to being unable to swallow.My guess is he has had several TIAs as well. Shelly Bergman was dead within a year of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Omar Sheriff was dead within 6 months iirc. Alzheimer's can be unpredictable. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,330 Posted August 28, 2018 11 minutes ago, The Mad Hatter said: Shelly Bergman was dead within a year of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Omar Sheriff was dead within 6 months iirc. Alzheimer's can be unpredictable. Very true.There is no set timescale for it.Of course just because he was active in 2016 doesn't mean he had not already been diagnosed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,228 Posted August 28, 2018 2 minutes ago, Sean said: Very true.There is not set timescale for it.Of course just because he was active in 2016 doesn't mean he had not already been diagnosed. Aye, Peter Falk is still performing despite his Alzheimer’s diagnosis iirc... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,330 Posted August 28, 2018 1 minute ago, Joey Russ said: Aye, Peter Falk is still performing despite his Alzheimer’s diagnosis iirc... Who is Peter Falk? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,228 Posted August 28, 2018 We might be having another Casey Kasem type case on our hands. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,330 Posted August 28, 2018 1 minute ago, Joey Russ said: We might be having another Casey Kasem type case on our hands. Zooinks 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny kiltrunner 553 Posted August 28, 2018 30 minutes ago, The Mad Hatter said: Shelly Bergman was dead within a year of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Omar Sheriff was dead within 6 months iirc. Alzheimer's can be unpredictable. This is the last I will write on this, as I'm not sure we are comparing apples to apples here. Alzheimer's is VERY predictable in it's patterns, and takes many years to go through it's full course. What confuses people (no pun intended) is that people with dementia still die of other things after they have been diagnosed, but it is the Alzheimer's that still stands out in people's minds. Also, some people will hide the dementia diagnosis for a very long time, so what looks like a rapid decline actually started 6 or 7 years earlier. Omar Shariff died of a heart attack AFTER being diagnosed with dementia. Shelley Berman's bio states he retired in 2014 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's ( but we have no idea when the diagnosis was actually made) and he died in 2017 of alzheimer's related complications ( which could mean anything ). My point is, we can't assume someone is ready for the deadlist just because they have been diagnosed with dementia and some sketchy report has been put out in the media. There is obviously infighting in the Conway family regarding trusts and decision-making, and it wouldn't be the first time the media has been manipulated into making things look dire and sinister when things are not really that bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,228 Posted August 28, 2018 6 minutes ago, Skinny kiltrunner said: This is the last I will write on this, as I'm not sure we are comparing apples to apples here. Alzheimer's is VERY predictable in it's patterns, and takes many years to go through it's full course. What confuses people (no pun intended) is that people with dementia still die of other things after they have been diagnosed, but it is the Alzheimer's that still stands out in people's minds. Also, some people will hide the dementia diagnosis for a very long time, so what looks like a rapid decline actually started 6 or 7 years earlier. Omar Shariff died of a heart attack AFTER being diagnosed with dementia. Shelley Berman's bio states he retired in 2014 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's ( but we have no idea when the diagnosis was actually made) and he died in 2017 of alzheimer's related complications ( which could mean anything ). My point is, we can't assume someone is ready for the deadlist just because they have been diagnosed with dementia and some sketchy report has been put out in the media. There is obviously infighting in the Conway family regarding trusts and decision-making, and it wouldn't be the first time the media has been manipulated into making things look dire and sinister when things are not really that bad. The path of the disease with one person (or even a majority of people) doesn’t mean that everyone follows the same path with Alzheimer’s. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toast 16,144 Posted August 28, 2018 The article doesn't mention Alzheimer's. Can we please stop automatically labelling dementia as "Alzheimer's". There are other forms. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,476 Posted August 29, 2018 9 hours ago, Toast said: The article doesn't mention Alzheimer's. Can we please stop automatically labelling dementia as "Alzheimer's". There are other forms. Terry Jones for example has a faster acting and nasty form of dementia which isn't Alzheimer's. Primary Progressive Aphasia. Peter Sarstedt had Progressive Supranuclear Palsy which has a prognosis of 7 years tops usually, and so on. One of my great aunts, I'm not sure what type of dementia she has, but she's been very lucky so far in that while its wiping out her memories and she had to move into a home, she can still chat and eat and listen to music and a lot of the stuff she loved. There are lots of different types and some of them are, to be blunt, better deadpooling odds than half the cancers folk infest their teams with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,330 Posted August 29, 2018 Prunella Scales has had dementia for nearly two decades and is still doing TV work.Never been revealed what the type is.She has very little short term memory but her long term memory speech and reading ability are undiminished or were a year or two ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,476 Posted August 29, 2018 14 minutes ago, Sean said: Pruners Scales has had dementia for nearly two decades and is still doing TV work.Never been revealed what the type is.She has very little short term memory but her long term memory speech and reading ability are undiminished or were a year or two ago. Apparently they've managed to film some more canal journeys so be interesting to see those. Timothy West said in the last series that her physical health was starting to weaken too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,330 Posted August 29, 2018 19 minutes ago, msc said: Apparently they've managed to film some more canal journeys so be interesting to see those. Timothy West said in the last series that her physical health was starting to weaken too. I did notice in the last serious of canal journey's that Tim or someone else held her arm in arm most of the time.I also noted how bad her balance was when being helped on and off boats or up or down steps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,647 Posted August 29, 2018 21 minutes ago, Sean said: I did notice in the last serious of canal journey's that Tim or someone else held her arm in arm most of the time.I also noted how bad her balance was when being helped on and off boats or up or down steps. So, lash her to the side and she'll double up as a fender, then Share this post Link to post Share on other sites