memories lost help!

[margaritaadios]

Dear friends
I’m glad to have found you because since my mother in law started suffering memory lost we felt totally alone . She seems to be fading away together with her memories. Her behaviour is more erratic and her general well been is eroding. She has been through all that scans but yet we have not received the results. We don’t know what to do in the meantime all the family realise that her symptoms are dementia together with what the general practitioner said but we have not even been contacted by the psiquatric doctor since she went to her scan a month ago. We feel forgotten by the system and lost because we don’t know what to do yet.

Please I know that many of you have been trough the same and we will be glad to know any recommendations

Yours truly,
margarita

 

[Margarita]

welcome margaritaadios .

we share the same name


I do know what it feel like to be in that in-between of not knowing till the results come then hopefully they give your mother medication for it .

but seeing that you general practitioner has said that your mother may have dementia , you could apply for attendances allowance if you have not already done it . don't know if your mother live alone or with your father as you could ring social services to organise day centrer . did they do the memory test as i am wondering what the score was to give an idea what stage she is in ?

 

[Norman]

Hi Margaritaadios
Welcome to Talking Point.
I think you should speak to your GP and find out what is going on.
Then contact social services to find what help is available to you.
Let us know how you get on
Norman

 

[Skye]

Hi Margaritaadios, welcome to TP.

I can't understand why you haven't heard the result of your mum's scan. I think you should go back to the GP and ask him to find out for you, and arrange an appointment with the consultant.

You could also contact your local branch of Alzheimer's Society. They will give you lots of support, and may be able stir things up with the consultant.

I do hope you get some information soon, it's rotten to be left hanging like that. Let us know how you get on.

Love,

 

[Cate]

Hi Margaritaadios

Welcome to TP. I was so sorry to read about your mother in law. I hope joining in the with TP 'familiy' you wont feel so alone.

A month seems a very long time to wait for results, as already suggested, you should contact the GP and ask him to follow up on the results.

Once these are received, your MIL can then be referred to a Psychiatrist for any applicable medication, I would also request that you are assigned to a Community Psychiatric Nurse, they can offer a lot of support and advice. as can Social Services.

Please keep in touch with us, and let us know how you are getting on.

Love
Cate

 

[Lucille]

Hello Margarita

I didn't have to wait too long for mum's results, so as the others have suggested, it might be worth following up with your GP.

How everything worked for my mum was this in an edited fashion:

1. Doctor arranged appt with consultant.
2. Consultant came to see us two months later.
3. Scan two months after that.
4. Diagnosis.

At the point 2. stage, the consultant and CPN came to see us at mum's. They explained how they would set the wheels in motion for the SW. This happened fairly quickly.

In turn, the SW informed us of benefits and then a benefit man (for want of a better word!) turned up.

Procedures may vary from one health authority to another but this is my experience. Please do follow up with your GP; exerting a bit of pressure will hopefully do the trick!

We're here for you, so please post back and let us know how things are going.

 

[xx.lauren.xx]

welcome

hiya,
welcome to TP! sorry to hear of your situation, but glad too see such lovely advice from other memebers. I am in a very similar situation to you at the moment, my uncle has already been diagnosed with the early stages of dementia but we are stil awaitng help and results of various assesments. i dont know much about the tecnical things but whilst my uncle is in this situation i find that these things seem to help him remember things a little bit more and also make me and my mum feel a little less upset, hope they help you too:

1- making a scrapbook of pictures of friends and family and labelling them all. I also found that putting a picture of my uncle with his full name and date of birth was useful as he saw this and it helped him rememeber who he was and how old he was. I put this on top of his tv as he sits by that a lot , maybe try puting it somewhere regulaly used so it can always be seen. My uncle always forgot what it was but he picked it up and looked at it and it made him feel better knowing he could remmeber a bit about his friends and who he was.

2- also, im finding that going along with the stories my uncle says is really comforting- sometimes hel tell me im someone im not and he doenst remember my name anymore but i keep reminding him im Lauren and just go along with whatever his story is and smile, he smiles back at me , i know that although he is sometimes talking a load of rubish he is happy saying it and so i jsut try to fit in.

3- keeping ontop of all the social workers, doctors and mental health nurses - my mum has made a folder of all the phone numbers of people we speak to and made a note of everything that happens so we can always keep track of whats going on.

these are only little things but they did seem to make a difference to my uncle and me and my mum, i hope they have been helpful to you , please keep us updated
love
lauren xx

 

[margaritaadios]

Thank you all

I don't know how to thank you all guys. Your advice is very useful and I will try to convince my father in law to read it. the good news are that the nurse is finally coming around next week and I hope she will give us advice on how to live with this situation and how to make it more bearable. Thank you all and I hope to get the time to keep in contact with you.

Yours truly,
Marjorie Bye