Update in NH and TIA

judyjudy

Registered User
Mar 19, 2008
32
0
west sussex
Hi all
An update as promised...
Day 1 in NH - not too bad all things considered
Day 2 in NH - thank God you are here to take me home. They are all potty/mad/can't talk. Need the police asap. The staff are evil/dishonest/not qualified/useless AND I am not staying here for one more minute.
Day 3 in NH - almost as bad as day 2. I'm locked in and so are you now. You can't get out either. You will learn the hard way. Then she tells me that I cannot get in either!
Day 4 in NH - Call from Senior nurse. Your mum has just had a nasty turn - unconscious for 10 mins and we have put her back to bed and called the doctor. Oh, she's up and around!!!!
I think and so do the NH that she had a TIA. They have also advised me not to visit for a couple of days to give her a chance to 'settle'. When I am not there she is okay-ish. They are also going to see if other medication may help the obvious anxiety/fear issues she has. I'm not joking, day 2 and 3 were very distressing for both of us.
Does anyone have any experience of what a TIA will 'do' to her? Should I expect any change in her when I do go in on Wednesday?
****** disease - its destroying me too - it is SO hard to be strong and not to disolve into tears every 5 minutes! I didn't know I had the capacity to cry so much. Escape valve I suppose but I wish I could stop.
Thanks
Judy
 
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kiytyn

Registered User
Mar 7, 2008
16
0
ramsey, isle of man
TIA's

Hi Judy

Sounds like you've had a turbulent few days. :rolleyes:

Mum had a TIA about 4 weeks ago. The Dr's originally blamed her sudden change in condition of the new med's she had been put on and it wasn't until my sisters and I questioned this that they even considered a TIA. As a result of this mini-stroke, mum has been bed bound for about a month. She has spent most of this time asleep. She still has a lot of physical movement, although her right arm is a little weak, and her speech is slurred. Her sight seems to have finally surrendered to the inevitable.

When she is awake things are pretty normal, tears and tantrums, although on Friday last week she was quite cheery. Good times.

This is just my personal experience of what this TIA did to my mum on this occassion. She has had them before now with very little effect, and I think that it is the stage of dementia that has made the results of this one more severe.

Most important of all, don't worry about your tears. Over the last 3 years I have found I am unable to watch a slightly soppy movie (even happy ones) with out breaking down into an emotional wreakage. :D

Take care
kiytyn
 

judyjudy

Registered User
Mar 19, 2008
32
0
west sussex
Hi Kiytyn
Thanks for the message. Its so hard to know what to do for the best. There are friends who I am sure think that I am callous not wanting to go in after she has had a 'turn' but I can't bring myself to do it on my own and there is no one 'free' to come with me today - only child and single. God, why do I feel so guilty when the NH has said not to go and not to worry. I guess it is the way I am built!
Judy
 

heartbroken

Registered User
Feb 17, 2008
747
0
derbyshire
judy you are entitled to cry please don't feel bad about it.
you can always phone the home to see how she is then you are doing something, take the time to relax and get your strength back.
 

Helena

Registered User
May 24, 2006
715
0
Judy

Appreciate what you have experienced is distressing
Unfortunately TIAs cause havoc but are way too frequently not even diagnosed properly and just put down as "funny turn"

My Mother had them thick and fast towards the end and they had taken their toll turning her into hardly recognisable as the person she once was and totally unable to tell you who anyone was etc

The delusions and tales get ever more fanciful

I can only say that you have to find a way to step back because nothing is going to stop the process and the last thing you need is to make yourself ill with it all
 

judyjudy

Registered User
Mar 19, 2008
32
0
west sussex
Tia

Hi Desperado
TIA means Transient Ischeamic Attack ie like a mini,mini stroke but often leaves no apparent effect ie weaknesses/numbness etc. At least that is what I think they are. There is an interruption in the blood flow to the brain. Hope I'm correct in what I am telling you. If not I am sure someone will put us both right!
Judy
 

Helena

Registered User
May 24, 2006
715
0
TIAs are indeed mini strokes or infarcts in the brain
the first few may go unoticed but later they come closer togetther and bit by bit damage the brain hence Vascular Dementia

The brain thus weakened makes the patient more vulnerable to infections and the cycle of damage eventually leads to demise

Thankfully my Mother was only a real problem during her last 2 years and especially the last 6 months however the 1st definite TIA when she vomited , collapsed and lost control of bladder etc with blood pressure down at zero that the Hospital doctors swore was merely a stomach upset (paramedics and myself and sister knew different and were proved right ) was 5 years before her death at age 90
 

I'sdaughter

Registered User
Apr 19, 2008
15
0
Cornwall
keeping safe

Hi - this crying's no probs bit like a pressure cooker as long as its in a 'safe' place & with 'supportive' people, so i read, some people even say chin up but they don't walk in our shoes. take care everyone.
 

bubbula25

Registered User
Apr 22, 2008
3
0
Belfast
I'm out of the loop...



Hey everyone

I was wondering if someone could give me some peace of mind about my gran.

She's had Alzheimer's/Lewis-Bodies Syndrome for over 5 years now and is fast approaching the last stages.

For the past couple of months she's gone extremely downhill and has gone over the past years from 20st to a mere 5st. She's a shadow of her former self, has to be hand fed, never talks, has lost the ability to monitor objects/people moving etc.

During the past months, she has taken a seizure and recovered but today she took at TIA. I'm worried that this is a sign of MID, which can be treated (apparently) but I feel because she's at her final stages theres nothing that can be done.

My mum tells me everything is fine, although when I hear her conversations with my other sisters, it sounds like the worst news and I feel extremely left out, childish and belittled (I'm 20). I've nursed my grandad with prostate cancer/bone cancer so I'm no stranger to watching my loved ones slipping away but I'm unsure about what to do or who to talk to when my mum is brushing the matter aside with me.

Help!
 

bubbula25

Registered User
Apr 22, 2008
3
0
Belfast
I'm out of the loop...

Hey everyone

I was wondering if someone could give me some peace of mind about my gran.

She's had Alzheimer's/Lewis-Bodies Syndrome for over 5 years now and is fast approaching the last stages.

For the past couple of months she's gone extremely downhill and has gone over the past years from 20st to a mere 5st. She's a shadow of her former self, has to be hand fed, never talks, has lost the ability to monitor objects/people moving etc.

During the past months, she has taken a seizure and recovered but today she took at TIA. I'm worried that this is a sign of MID, which can be treated (apparently) but I feel because she's at her final stages theres nothing that can be done.

My mum tells me everything is fine, although when I hear her conversations with my other sisters, it sounds like the worst news and I feel extremely left out, childish and belittled (I'm 20). I've nursed my grandad with prostate cancer/bone cancer so I'm no stranger to watching my loved ones slipping away but I'm unsure about what to do or who to talk to when my mum is brushing the matter aside with me.

Help!
 

RobertE

Registered User
Jan 10, 2008
33
0
TIA and Tears

My mum has had a couple of TIA's - after each one she's gone down another "step" into this vile illness. More memories destroyed, more confusion and aggressive behaviour, another "piece" of my lovely mum gone forever. Often there were no signs although sometimes I noticed her walking was affected - she would lean backwards and to one side.

I have always considered myself a strong person but I have cried more tears since mum was diagnosed with this cruel illness than I have in my entire lifetime.
 

bubbula25

Registered User
Apr 22, 2008
3
0
Belfast
Well my gran is now 5 years into the illness and she just sits there saying nothing and looking at the ceiling.

Its horrible watching her remembering the person she used to be, but i've taught myself that although the person she was isn't there anymore, the memories i have with her will live on :)
 

barbara h

Registered User
Feb 15, 2008
96
0
county durham
Hi Judy,

My mam went in a care home in february and after a couple of weeks of being there she had a series of TIAs about four in a week the doctor thought. She pulled around quite well considering but about two weeks later she had another one which left her unable to eat, drink, communicate or respond. She was like this for two days. At the moment she is having her best spell since going into the care home she is sitting with her head up again, eating and drinking well and sleeping well aprox 12 hours per night. The problem is you just don't know when these horrible TIAs are going to strike again

Hope your mam (and you)have a better time ahead.

Barbara h