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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Update on Pat's Condition

It's been so long since I wrote. I've been busier than the average person with Pat's condition quickly declining and my Dad still not up to par. I should have made time to write here.... because it is important to share this with other people going through the same thing. Knowledge is the KEY to surviving Alzheimer's.

Pat was getting so bad, her anxiety growing in to something unbearable for both Mark and I. The doctor had prescribed Ativan for this but we held off... at first. But it got so bad for her to go anywhere that we had to try something. We started giving them to her once in a while, just to calm her.

Before too long she started to be anxious all day long. Asking over and over to go somewhere and not making any sense. We thought it was the progression of the disease. So we called the doctor and he told us to double up on her anxiety so then we were giving her 6 pills a day. This made her act drunk though, slurring her words and having a hard time to walk. It scared us to see her decline so fast.

Talking to a friend one day, she asked what Pat was taking for her anxiety. Thank you God for this conversation! She told me that this drug can really mess you up. It goes in quick and leaves quick which puts a person on a roller coaster effect.

After speaking with Mark, and him recalling a friend that had taken too much of this same medicine and had the same result, I called the doctor. We changed the medicine to something more mild.

That same day, she improved. She was aware, able to feed herself, knew all her kids names, knew her name. She could walk, go to the bathroom on her own.

Now it is like 6 months ago. She is doing so good

We are in the process of getting a referral to a Geriatric Doctor, someone who specializes in the elderly, in hopes of regulating her medicine and improving her quality of life.

This experience has made us realize that she is in the right place. Because we know who she is and how she is, we were able to detect a problem. Someone who doesn't know her, might not realize it.

This has been the best Christmas ever! While I know it will continue to get worse, for now, it is wonderful to have Pat back with us, in the land of the living!

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