Today we went to see the doctor.
We went to see a good doctor.
We went to see the Neurologist! We went to see a neurologist who knew what he was talking about with Lewy Body Dementia. And we found him at Portland Adventist Medical Center. Brent Burroughs, MD gave me solace.
I picked Mom up, and she'd been waiting. I'd already collected the information on her medications, etc, from Mike, the leader of the cottages. He also asked me to not allow Mom to use the keypad to go out anymore. See, she's now under hourly supervision to ensure she doesn't try to tip-toe her way out.
We found the Neurology Department and walked in. My goodness there were a lot of forms to fill out! Thank goodness I had the presence of mind, earlier in the year, to download the Family Medical History app for my phone and computer. I had already entered all the information necessary - including her insurance, blood type, medications, allergies, etc., so that was right in front of me! It also partners with an ICE app (In Case of Emergency) that is on my phone, and can be used in those unmentionable situations we try to avoid.
We went into the room with the nurse, who took Mom's blood pressure. She hated that! It really seems to hurt her arms!
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As we waited in the interim, I walked over to the chart and began explaining, in a condensed manner, to Mom why we were there. After I finished, she looked at me and said, "You know that gardening lady needs a couple of green watering cans."
I couldn't believe that my mother was now one of those people - at least for the moment.
Then came the doc. Nice guy.
"So, why are you here?" he asked.
Mom decided it best for her to speak. "Well, you see my hands used to break out, but because of the cream I'm using they're getting better."
He nodded then looked at me.
"We came because I need to know if we're still working with LBD, and if we are, then are we on the right track."
"What leads you to believe she has LBD?"
"Well, Highline in Tukwila diagnosed her a year ago April, and I've been doing my reading and some research on it, and it fits. I just need to be sure we're doing all we can at this time. Maybe scans?" This last question was with hope, but after he explained that while 'those with great means' might pay out of pocket for this, it would not be easily affordable for the other 95%. I was a little disappointed.
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"She also has tremors, and then there are the hallucinations."
He asked about these, and we spoke through Mom's vigorous protests and demands we stop maligning her reputation. I reminded her about seeing my brother while she napped the other day.
"What? That never happened. See? You're putting words in my mouth!"
He understood. Fortunately, he seemed relieved I knew something about the ailment.
He began asking Mom questions and she was off at the races! She had a lovely time describing Port Angeles, Sequim, her life, and other titbits of information which mostly had nothing to do with the questions.
He took out some sheets and began quizzing her with pictures. She couldn't see all the images that to me were obvious. But overall, she did fine - she did see some and created stories around them.
Then there were numbers, and memory tests. He asked her to list off as many animals as she could in a minute - she listed about 18.
He then conducted some coordination tests. She was having a blast! She was complaining about his demands, but I could see she loved the attention! She giggled as he took out the reflex hammer and bopped her a few times. He had her fingers clapping while the other arm was engaged with his moving it.
The brain is amazing - isn't it? It allows us to do so much and we use it so little....
He did tell us that the only real way to know if she had LBD was through autopsy. Well, that was a shocker - not that I didn't already know this, but that he said it right in front of Mother!
"What did he say?" she asked.
"He said the only way they could know was through brain surgery," I said.
"Oh. No, you can't do that!" she laughed.
He saw the tremors, we discussed the hallucinations, he looked at the cognitive pieces. He concluded that we were on the right track. He did say that the seroquel might need to be upped in dosage, though, eventually.
One thing that surprised me, though, was that Haldol, which was used primarily with AD and brought out the Parkinson's in LBD patients, was pretty much the same thing as seroquel, but different, if you catch my drift.
I was a bit anxious as we left and Mother was in a happy mood, talking about what a wonderful doctor we'd seen, and how he seemed rather intelligent. I was a little worried that our talk about the hallucinations would carry over into lunch, as Mom is well-known to hang on to grudges for decades (centuries if that were possible!). But she'd completely forgotten!
This was not a good sign.
I'm not really sure what we really accomplished, except validation. He also brought up End of Life issues, but it wasn't the time.
Mom seems to be declining quickly, but I'm not sure why. She's struggling for the right words, but she's never short on them. She's more confused and her mind isn't latching on to much any longer (except secret key codes for the exits and entrances to the center...Hmmmmm).
Hopefully, I'll have more information on LBD later this week. Now I need to do some mulling.
We went to see a good doctor.
We went to see the Neurologist! We went to see a neurologist who knew what he was talking about with Lewy Body Dementia. And we found him at Portland Adventist Medical Center. Brent Burroughs, MD gave me solace.
I picked Mom up, and she'd been waiting. I'd already collected the information on her medications, etc, from Mike, the leader of the cottages. He also asked me to not allow Mom to use the keypad to go out anymore. See, she's now under hourly supervision to ensure she doesn't try to tip-toe her way out.
We found the Neurology Department and walked in. My goodness there were a lot of forms to fill out! Thank goodness I had the presence of mind, earlier in the year, to download the Family Medical History app for my phone and computer. I had already entered all the information necessary - including her insurance, blood type, medications, allergies, etc., so that was right in front of me! It also partners with an ICE app (In Case of Emergency) that is on my phone, and can be used in those unmentionable situations we try to avoid.
We went into the room with the nurse, who took Mom's blood pressure. She hated that! It really seems to hurt her arms!
As we waited in the interim, I walked over to the chart and began explaining, in a condensed manner, to Mom why we were there. After I finished, she looked at me and said, "You know that gardening lady needs a couple of green watering cans."
I couldn't believe that my mother was now one of those people - at least for the moment.
Then came the doc. Nice guy.
"So, why are you here?" he asked.
Mom decided it best for her to speak. "Well, you see my hands used to break out, but because of the cream I'm using they're getting better."
He nodded then looked at me.
"We came because I need to know if we're still working with LBD, and if we are, then are we on the right track."
"What leads you to believe she has LBD?"
"Well, Highline in Tukwila diagnosed her a year ago April, and I've been doing my reading and some research on it, and it fits. I just need to be sure we're doing all we can at this time. Maybe scans?" This last question was with hope, but after he explained that while 'those with great means' might pay out of pocket for this, it would not be easily affordable for the other 95%. I was a little disappointed.
"She also has tremors, and then there are the hallucinations."
He asked about these, and we spoke through Mom's vigorous protests and demands we stop maligning her reputation. I reminded her about seeing my brother while she napped the other day.
"What? That never happened. See? You're putting words in my mouth!"
He understood. Fortunately, he seemed relieved I knew something about the ailment.
He began asking Mom questions and she was off at the races! She had a lovely time describing Port Angeles, Sequim, her life, and other titbits of information which mostly had nothing to do with the questions.
He took out some sheets and began quizzing her with pictures. She couldn't see all the images that to me were obvious. But overall, she did fine - she did see some and created stories around them.
Then there were numbers, and memory tests. He asked her to list off as many animals as she could in a minute - she listed about 18.
He then conducted some coordination tests. She was having a blast! She was complaining about his demands, but I could see she loved the attention! She giggled as he took out the reflex hammer and bopped her a few times. He had her fingers clapping while the other arm was engaged with his moving it.
The brain is amazing - isn't it? It allows us to do so much and we use it so little....
He did tell us that the only real way to know if she had LBD was through autopsy. Well, that was a shocker - not that I didn't already know this, but that he said it right in front of Mother!
"What did he say?" she asked.
"He said the only way they could know was through brain surgery," I said.
"Oh. No, you can't do that!" she laughed.
He saw the tremors, we discussed the hallucinations, he looked at the cognitive pieces. He concluded that we were on the right track. He did say that the seroquel might need to be upped in dosage, though, eventually.
One thing that surprised me, though, was that Haldol, which was used primarily with AD and brought out the Parkinson's in LBD patients, was pretty much the same thing as seroquel, but different, if you catch my drift.
I was a bit anxious as we left and Mother was in a happy mood, talking about what a wonderful doctor we'd seen, and how he seemed rather intelligent. I was a little worried that our talk about the hallucinations would carry over into lunch, as Mom is well-known to hang on to grudges for decades (centuries if that were possible!). But she'd completely forgotten!
This was not a good sign.
I'm not really sure what we really accomplished, except validation. He also brought up End of Life issues, but it wasn't the time.
Mom seems to be declining quickly, but I'm not sure why. She's struggling for the right words, but she's never short on them. She's more confused and her mind isn't latching on to much any longer (except secret key codes for the exits and entrances to the center...Hmmmmm).
Hopefully, I'll have more information on LBD later this week. Now I need to do some mulling.
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