Community Chat

[Lotus]

Hiya pit....hope all is well in your little corner of the US of A.

I have a question about dementia and I'm wondering if you have any insight in this area.

(before anyone tells me to check with a doctor....it's been an active ongoing process)

My mom is 85 and she has had worsening short term memory loss over the past 4-5 months. I finally got her to go to the neurologist, but unfortunately I could not go with her. Under other circumstances I would have asked her to change her appointment, but it was a small miracle that she agreed to go and I wasn't about to have her change anything. He did call me during the appointment.

He said there was definite cognitive decline and was a candidate for Aricept. He put her on 5mg and wants to see her back in a month (early Nov) when he will probably raise her to 10mg. He also ordered a brain scan to see if there was anything else going on. He hasn't called me yet (she had it about 10 days ago) but I got a copy of the report. The radiologist's "impression": "Age typical atrophy and white matter degeneration without acute infarct or mass".

I don't understand that if she is age typical why is her short term memory worse than some of her peers?

I also discovered she was not being compliant with her BP meds. I knew this BEFORE she went to the neurologist, but I have not been able to get her to the cardiologist (she refuses) but I HAVE been able to get her to start taking her meds again regularly. (I'm working on getting her to the card) When the neurologist called me during her visit he also mentioned that her BP was high....it was after the neuro visit that I got her to her BP meds.

I read today (magazine article) that high blood pressure can cause "vascular dementia". Could this be part of the reason why she suddenly got much worse over the past 4 months or so (that's about how far back I can figure she stopped taking the BP meds) or is that just a coincidence?

Thanks for "listening" and I hope this made some sense. Hope to hear from you soon.

[dmod nj]

Hi Lotus,

Please leave a shout out on my thread for pitty. If she logs in tonight, she is sure to see your request on my thread.

[Lotus]

Thanks donna....

Was it a great day today? Or what?

[dmod nj]

It was lovely today!! It got less humid this afternoon!!

You are always welcome to join in. Please don't hesitate.

[Lotus]

I'd love to donna....hopefully will be there soon.

I have new hours at work since the end of August or so....working days now. I haven't had a "normal" life in 15 years of working nights 2 jobs. I LOVE working days and having my evenings free to do what I please.

There are so many TV shows I never knew existed....I'm catching up on some reading and slowing getting back into my crocheting. And of course dinner's out, Trivia Night and I'm thinking about taking up Ceramics.

I also went to an Elder Law class at our local HS Adult Ed the other night and learned A LOT!

See you soon!!!

[kdgn]

Lotus, I am not Pitdakota but perhaps I can help. My mom had vascular dementia and essentially did what your mom did: stopped taking ALL medications, including the BP med. Now she had been experiencing short term memory loss prior to this but it was accelerating. Then I discovered her refusal to take the meds.

She had fallen, split her chin open, waited an hour to call me because I was at work; told the Urgent Care doctor she took no meds (! my jaw hit the floor). After I got her back to her place I did some investigating and my best guess was she had stopped taking all pills a minimum of 4 months prior. I should have been better prepared for that shock because when we got to her place she touched my wedding ring set and said "You're married?"

She went to her volunteer job the next morning and told the ladies there that a nice young lady had taken her to the doctor. Her boss called me that night..... I took her to her doctor the next day. She resumed taking her meds.

Please, please make sure you have power of attorney for health care and for financial matters.

[Lotus]

Thanks kdgn.....I'm working on so many things, my head is spinning. My sister is coming up (date to be determined) and we're going to see an attorney. We have a LOT to do.

This is very sad and distressing.

Sorry about your mom too.

[kdgn]

The fall happened only a couple of weeks after we had moved to town, Lotus. She had been able to hide a lot of the memory loss from me because I didn't see her all that often and the visits were usually on the short side.

I also discovered she wasn't paying her bills. I found a second notice on the electric bill, found her checkbook and that hadn't been going on for too long. I took over her finances at that point but I'd had POA for health and financial for years.

Her doctor did say the damage was done but she was maintaining until she had a TIA stroke several months later. I had retired, was available, called 911, etc. I followed the ambulance and by the time I got to her in the ER she was signing the paperwork! They kept her overnight in the ER rather than in a room and that was a mistake. I feel very strongly that she had a real stroke during the night. When I got there the next morning she was highly distressed, her BP was almost at stroke level and they were giving her an injection for it. They had neglected to give her her normal meds. When I checked her out she could not sign her name, was very confused. She had aphasia after that and it was downhill from there.

[Lotus]

Oh boy....that's terrible.

I live upstairs from mom, which I think made it even harder to see her initial decline. Seeing her everyday made it hard for me to detect it early on. At first she was able to hide it too....then it became very obvious.

She has a lot of good moments...it's amazing to see what short term things she can remember and the things she can't. It's really a horrible thing to witness.

I do her bills....I write the checks and she still signs them. I am working on getting a POA. She still takes good care of herself, cooks and drives. (VERY short trips to the store and back)

[JustJazzmom]

And don't forget to get the health care proxy at the same time. You can also do limited POA too.