Eyes

[Geoff]

Eyes !!!

Hi Brucie,

I've been reading your latest post and noticed that you said your wifes eyes no longer move properly.

Recently we've noticed that at night or when my mum is more tired than usual one of her eyes appears to take a while before it comes round to where it should be.

I was wondering if this is the way your wifes eyes went when they first started to " go strange ". I'm guessing this is yet another sympton of the illness. Also if you don't mind me asking at what age was your wife diagnosed and how long ago?

 

[Norman]

Hi Geof
it may be worth making an appointment for Mum at the Opticians.
I was worried because my wife behaved as if she was losing her sight.
She would talk to me and look above my head.
The Optician was familiar with AS and Aricept tablets,her said that she maybe could be helped with spectacles,but added would she wear them?Would she lose them?It could be money wasted.It would not help the focusing problem
I am glad to say that there is nothing wrong with her sight but her difficulty in focusing is caused by the AS.
Hope this helps
Norman

 

[Brucie]

Hi Geoff

As her dementia has developed, Jan's left eye has become distinctly lazy. It already had a problem with a floater, but now it diverges a lot.

I've tried lots of tests with her to try to see which of her eyes, if any, can actually see, and have come to the conclusion that neither can these days. The eyes are organically ok - or at least the right one is, but the neural connections to the brain seem to have been mucked up. The specialist at the hospital couldn't get anywhere - he tried conversing with her. Non-dementia specialists have no idea at all about dementia and how to cope with patients that have it. In the end he had to ask me what was wrong.

A lot of the time as well, her hearing co-ordination seems up the shoot, so she can't figure where I am from listening.

...at least until one of those clear moments when something clicks and it all seems almost to be working more or less correctly again.

 

[Geoff]

Thanks for the reply

Thanks Bruce for the reply to my post.

From what you are saying, I think that my mum is going down the same route with her eyes as your wife. As the day progresses her left eye definately starts to become "lazy". We've also noticed that she has a tendancy to stare upward and to the right alot, as though there is something in the top right corner of the room, again this is mainly in the later part of the evening.

Her hearing for now seems to be fine, thankfully, with AD and breast cancer she has enough to content with.

Isn't it a good thing we don't know what lies around the corner for us...who'd have guessed!!!!

Geoff

P.S today was a good day, hope jan's and therefore yours was to.

 

[Canadian Joanne]

One thing to check about a lazy eye is if there is a cataract or not. I had noticed for some time that my mother's right eye was not focussing properly. However, since she's in a nursing home (even though she's only 68), I assumed the doctor would have enough brains to check her eyes once a year. WRONG!!! I took her to my optometrist & he found she had a cataract in her right eye.

So now it's a 6 month wait for the specialist just for the consultation. I am really and truly P***ed off with the nursing home doctor. You'd think with an elderly clientele the idiot would think to look at their eyes once in a blue moon. I do understand that my mother is younger than the others and looks younger than her age but still!! My husband thinks doctors at nursing home are second rate & I think he's right. Turns out this one is 71 & retired (??) so now he has 180 patients. I can't bring myself to talk to him because I'm afraid I'll lose my temper & run roughshod over him. I'm sure he's fine if he's only dealing with a cold or a pimple but people with AD can have very complex problems. At least he doesn't interfere with her meds - her specialist & I take care of that. I had to fight for 6 months to get her on Ritalin when she was sleeping 18 hours a day (it did work for about 5 months so I was happy).

Sorry - I'm just starting to rave now. The key is always question the doctors, find another one when you're not happy. We are the customers, at least that's how I look at it.