Mmse

JT13

Registered User
Aug 9, 2006
41
0
Dear All,

For those who haven't had the MMSE test done and would like to have a look at what it's like.... here's the link.

http://www.razadyne.com/html/raz/hcp_tools.jsp

I hope that it will help give you some peace of mind and a little more idea of all these changes that you're facing. It's provided that to me in a small way although I'm unable to use it as the lady I care for is illiterate.

Do take care of yourselves and keep the light shining within you.

Regards
J
 

Helena

Registered User
May 24, 2006
715
0
My Mother would be lucky if she score 6 on that .........yet the doctors cant/wont section her because she is independantly minded and fairly physically fit ........they last saw her in March and she is on all kinds of meds for High BP and Arthritis

Just how bad do things have to get before they take notice
 

Lila13

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
1,342
0
My mother was good at answering those questions, remembering unrelated words, spelling and counting backwards, so of course until the second memory clinic they said there was nothing wrong. She could generally remember the date, addresses etc. whenever there was a doctor present. However at that last memory clinic she gave the year as 1666, and confirmed it when the doc asked her to repeat it. Probably anticipating plague and fire. When he asked her to write a sentence she wrote "I have had enough of too many silly questions".
 

JT13

Registered User
Aug 9, 2006
41
0
Mmse...

Honestly, I really doubt the MMSE test would do any good for my situation. It isn't going to change anything, or even be an exact solution to prescribe medication. Medication is mostly "try and test" on each individual person. Even if on meds, it's not really to relief the patient of Alzheimer's/Dementia. An Alzheimer's patient doesn't really know anyways. From what I've seen, it's more of facilitating to make life a little more bearable for the carer (i.e: calm down a violent patient or decrease the course of memory loss).

Many of you are very blessed to live in a place where the government provides assistance (or hope to obtain assistance sometime in the future). We don't have that here, not even an ounce of hope. So do hang in there and be persistent to get that govt. support as you have the routes available to you.

I've spent the past 3 months reading, learning, understanding and now, accepting it. Progress has been tremendous. From day one when she used to stare me down and not acknowledge my existence, to today... we can sit, have conversations (even though it's repeated many times). I've grown to care a lot for her.

I had learned that it's not really about the patient. It's about me learning to change my mindset. With understanding and acceptance, I've also realised that the stress level has gone down to almost zero. Knowing... changes everything because I'm no longer shooting in the dark trying to figure out "WHY". Accepting... makes life more joyful as I now don't feel the need to try make her happy all the time because I can't. No one can.

3 months ago, I was at a lost. Aggitated. Frustrated. Now, with the help and contribution of everyone here at TP towards understanding, I am smiling each and every day. Thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart.
 

Amy

Registered User
Jan 4, 2006
3,454
0
Hiya JT13,
Pleased that you are feeling better. Well done you.
Love Helen
 

Kayla

Registered User
May 14, 2006
621
0
Kent
After my Mum had her terrible hallucinations last year, she was assessed by a doctor from the Mental Health Team and she achieved 28 out of 30 and she was nearly 80. He said that this was a better score than usual for someone of her age. He also said that because she was clean and tidy, with matching clothes and an orderly house she definitely didn't have Senile Dementia. After scoring so well on the test, Mum then started getting mixed up with things and could see what the problem was. Since Mum was a keen Scrabble player, it wasn't surprising that she did well on the word aspects of the test. For someone who was not a confident reader, the test could under estimate their abilities.
My father had a stroke and I thought many of Mum's symptoms were similar to his, but her GP said she hadn't had a stroke. Do the doctors deliberately keep us in the dark, or do they really not know about Vascular Dementia? If I had been more informed and even known the worst case scenario, it would have made life so much easier for everyone. Thankyou for Talking Point, it's a lifeline!