Medications

Alzheimer's creeps up on you slowly. It was several years ago when my sister Jo first suggested the doctor be brought into the discussion about Mom's memory. We knew there was a family history of dementia going way back. Mom's aunt Mickey, her father's sister, had advanced dementia. More recently her cousin Charlotte was afflicted.

When I took Mom to see the doctor about her memory Mom was in denial. But a battery of tests turned up an abdominal aortic aneurysm that would require surgery. The pre-surgery evaluation turned up a bad valve and need for several bypasses. Amazingly she made it through those surgeries with flying colors! It wasn't easy. I had practically moved in with them in 2005 after Dad's stroke and now here I was back again, 2008 for several months. 

The first medication they tried was Aricept. It seemed to help a little at first but then she began suffering from chronic nausea. There was another one I can't recall we tried but it made her ill as well. We tried a few herbal remedies and teas. Nothing really helped. The Excelon patch we started near her birthday in September 2010. We had a nice party for her and she insists she wasn't there. Is was about that time her memory took a major turn for the worst. She even became violent striking Dad with her metal cane. Then at the end of September Dad was in the hospital. He was convinced he was a gonner but some antibiotics had him better within a week or two. The scare convinced him it was time to sell the house and move in with me. Mom could not be left alone and he didn't want her in a care center. 

So we listed the house in October, showed it a few times and it sold right away. Dee Belcher is a great realtor! They had to be out by December and it was a rush to get my house ready for them. Thankfully my friend Larry Chebowski was there to do the construction - enclosing the third bay of the garage into a sitting room and laying oak flooring throughout. By December 22nd they were moved in!  

Shortly thereafter we went to see a psychologist specializing in Alzheimer's. He tested her and rated her in stage 5 or 6 out of 7 stages. He prescribed Razadyne along with a mood enhancer -Paxil at first then Celexia. The Razadyne really made her sick. One pill and she was in bed sick for three days. Now she is on Celexia and Halodol an anti-psychotic Still there are days when the anxiety and frustration push her into hysterics. I wish there was a formula for calming her down.   

In March of 2011 Mom had a fall fracturing her left femur from the hip to the knee length wise.The TV commercials say if you took Boniva this was known to happen and call the law offices for the class action suit. Dad says forget it. Even though Mom was on the osteoporosis drug and it may have caused the fracture. She did however already have a hip replacement in that leg that may have contributed.    

This is also where the congestive heart failure really began to kick in. Not more than two weeks after coming home from the hospital she was back in with breathing problems. They took over 20 pounds of fluid out of her in about a week. Now we watch the fluids closely.