The Results of Mom's Testing

fter several months of waiting for appointments, driving miles to get to them, and talking with doctors, we have finally found out the truth: there is nothing that we can do about Mom's memory problems. She doesn't have Alzheimer's, but the confusion that she's experiencing cannot be cured and will not go away.

We went to a neurologist in November and found out that the memory problems were not caused by her strokes. He sent us for neuropsychological testing. That testing happened in March. A week later, we found out there is absolutely nothing wrong with Mom'smemory Her memory is actually extraordinarily high for a person her age. Then, we went back to th neurologist , who really didn't tell us anything more than the neuropsychology guy did.  The only thing he did say was that Mom needs continual supervision.

And that's what we're here for. :)

More On Dad's Pain

ver the past few weeks, Dad has been doing a lot better, both emotionally and physically. Actually, more emotionally than physically, but doing better emotionally seems to be helping him at least want to improve his physical situation. Of course, he's gone to doctor after doctor over the years, seeking relief from his pain, but he was only interested in what they could do for him, but he would never do things they suggested he could do for himself.

For example, the physical therapist wanted him to do some exercises. Even when reminded, he wouldn't do them very often. He always sleeps on his right side, with his right arm under his head. The doctors think that his lack of variation in sleeping positions caused the soft tissues in the right side of his neck to shorten, and those in the left side of his neck to lengthen, which causes pain in a particular muscle that attaches above his left eye--exactly where his pain is. He can't lie on his back or stomach for very long at a time because of breathing issues, and he wouldn't try sleeping on his left side because he's completely deaf in his right ear and didn't like not being able to hear anything while he's in bed.

In October, I talked to his doctor about how every time we make plans to do something, Dad would end up sick, and asked him if he thought it could be caused by anxiety. Dad said, "But I wanted to go." The doctor said that didn't matter. Even good stresses can cause anxiety. He prescribed Buspirone, a medication that would boost the effects of the Cymbalta antidepressant he was already taking, help with anxiety, and even help relieve his belly pain.

Only a couple of weeks later, the belly pain was gone. His mood improved. He not only told jokes, but started laughing while telling them, to the point his face turned red. For years, he didn't want to talk to anyone on the phone. If he answered my calls, he quickly asked if I wanted to talk to Mom. Now, suddenly, he was calling people just to see how things were going with their farms and families. For years, he practically ignored Mom. Now, he calles her sweetheart, hugs her every chance he gets, talks to her, watches TV shows she wants to watch, and generally seems more interested in her. I've got my dad back!

It took a little longer, but in the last week, he's started sleeping on his left side! With the help of his doctors, I think we'll make some progress on his headaches.

UTIs

om was acting very strangely this morning.

She had an appointment for fasting blood work this morning. Mom's blood sugar going low affects her significantly, and sooner than it does most people. If her blood sugar is in the 70s, she's getting shaky. So, the idea of not being able to eat until after a 9:00 appointment had her freaked out from the moment she woke up (if she slept at all, that is, as nervous as she was).

She took her blood sugar right after she got up at 7:00, and it was 99. To her, that's spiraling down out of control! When I came upstairs at 7:40, she was worried because she thought we were supposed to be there before 8:00. No Mom, your appointment is at 9:00, and they called yesterday and asked you to come in at 8:45. I suggested she sit down and rest if she thought her sugar was going low. She did for a couple of minutes, and then she checked her blood sugar again. 155. Her liver must have thrown some sugar, she said. I told her again to sit down. Instead, she searched for her blood pressure cuff to see if that was the problem. 107/51. Superb.

Finally, I said we could just as well leave and wait there as well as at home. Maybe they'd get us in early. Then, during the 25 minute drive, I tried to engage her in conversation, but she wouldn't talk much. She had an odd look on her face, somewhere between determination and confusion, if that makes any sense. She looked at the clock and said, "We aren't going to have time for breakfast before my appointment." I gently reminded her that she needed to be fasting for this appointment, and we'd have breakfast afterwards. Thank God for my meds.

Finally, a thought occurred to me.

"Mom, we usually eat breakfast at 8:30. It's 8:35 right now, so on a normal day, you would just be eating right now. You're going to be OK."

I dropped her off at the door and told her to register while I parked. When I got inside, she was standing there and told me every one was busy. Two of the three receptionists were sitting with no one in front of them. I got her registered, and gestured to the waiting room. But Mom bypassed the waiting room and headed right down the hallway toward the patient rooms in the back!

"Mom, we have to wait here."

"No, I have to go have my blood drawn so I can eat breakfast," she insisted, like a petulant 3-year-old.

I convinced her to sit down, and listened to her whine about not getting to eat. I offered to go check with the receptionist to see if she was supposed to go to the lab first. Of course, the answer was no.

Not too much later, she was called back. I told the nurse in private that I thought Mom was acting a little strange and that we should have her checked for a UTI. They were kind enough to oblige, and sure enough, she had one.

This isn't the first time this has happened. The first time, I was surprised that it would have that kind of effect. But one of the women at my church works in a nursing home, and she told me that yes, when patients start acting (more) confused (than usual), the first thing they check is for a urinary tract infection. Apparently, when they have an infection, the toxins that should be flushed out by urination back up in the system and get into the blood, causing all kinds of havoc.

So, Mom got some antibiotics. We'll see how it goes.

Dad's Pain

Dad has a lot of pain. And I'm not talking about myself.

He has had chronic headaches, for decades. He's got irritable bowel syndrome and lymphocytic colitis, so he has a lot of belly pain. He has acid reflux, so he often has chest pain that is hard to distinguish from heart problems (he had a heart attack and bypass surgery in the 90's). And it seems he's developed arthritis in his upper back and sternum.

One of the doctors that treated him for his chronic headaches gave him prescriptions for morphine. Stupid doctor. Reminds me of the joke, "What do you call the person who graduates last in the class in medical school? Doctor!"

Dad became addicted to the morphine, his personality changed, he started threatening Mom, talked about killing himself, and isolated himself (and because of his suicide threats, isolated Mom, because she wouldn't go anywhere without him). We did a family intervention, put him through drug rehab, and hoped for the best. He has a new doctor, one who knows about the morphine problem and who won't give it to him again!

Well, a few weeks ago, Dad's belly pain got so bad, he couldn't eat dinner or breakfast the next day. So, we took him to the ER.

While I was in the restroom, the doctor gave Dad morphine.

Ever since then, Dad has had one pain after another. It moves from place to place and escalates. And he keeps asking for more morphine. We keep refusing to give it to him. From what I understand, once the brain has experienced an addictive drug like morphine, it can "create" the trigger that used to get it. So, Dad's brain had a taste of morphine, and now it wants more. I don't know how long it will take for the desire to go away. It's been more than a month already.

Too Many Supplements

So, I mentioned Mom's... umm... penchant for taking supplements.

When I first moved home, I watched her struggle with them every morning. (She had a stroke in January, and ordinary tasks have become increasingly difficult for her.) She'd pick up a bottle, look at it, look at the cups she was putting them in to determine which one it was supposed to go in, and then she'd open the bottle, forget which one she had, look at the label, look back at the cups, and on and on, until finally she got one out and dropped it in a cup. This process would go on, often for 60-90 minutes or longer. When I finally couldn't take it anymore, I suggested that I do them for her, and use pill boxes to put out a week's supply at a time.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

We sat down with my computer, and she pulled box after box of pills out of the cupboard. It was like a Volkswagen filled with clowns! An hour and a half later, I had a spreadsheet with a list of over 50 different pills, with six columns to differentiate when and by whom they should be taken! And really, her system was actually even more complicated than that, but I insisted that we "simplify" it. One of the biggest problems was finding pill boxes that would hold everything--the ones I found were called Triple XL! Even then, it sometimes felt like the cartoon character sitting on the overfull suitcase to get it shut.

I realized that this couldn't possibly be good for them. I mean, there were days she couldn't finish eating her breakfast, because her stomach was too full of pills and the water she had to drink to get them down! Between that many supplements and all the prescription medications they take, the number of possible bad interactions was monumental. I tried to research it online, but it just wasn't something I could accomplish on my own.

It was time to involve professionals.

I started with our chiropractor. He agreed that they were taking too many supplements, and recommended finding out if the same ingredient was in more than one of the supplements and could be eliminated. So, back to my spreadsheet. I added rows and typed each ingredient/dose in a new column, copying and pasting the supplement name in each new row so that I could identify which supplement each ingredient was from. That took awhile! (I finally realized I could find most of the ingredient lists online and copy and paste. Wish I'd thought of that sooner.) Then, I was able to alphabetize the ingredients and find out which supplements overlapped.

Of course, when I brought that [9-page] report to the chiropractor, he joined me in my state of overwhelmedness. He suggested that I check with her regular doctor, and if that didn't work, he knows a doctor who specializes in homeopathy, and would have referred us to him.

When we talked to Mom's regular doctor, she too was overwhelmed, and she too referred us on. This time, it was to a PharmD--a doctor of pharmacy.

The PharmD was wonderful! She was knowledgeable, thorough, compassionate, firm, and got that list of 50-some supplements down to a more manageable 26! She looked at all the overlap of ingredients and cut out a bunch. She cut out items that had a sufficient amount in their multi-vitamin. She took out a bunch of "hoax" pills, things that have no studies proving that they do what their sellers claim. And she took out a bunch of pills Mom was taking for energy and weight loss. Those pills were bad for her heart, and could be what caused at least her second stroke (which happened in July), if not the first one.

So now, I still do all their pills, but I no longer have to sit on the suitcase to get it shut.

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