I'm new here and have so much in common with the rest of the members who are caring for someone with dementia..
I'm the sole carer and only relative of my mum who's 82,and I've been looking after on her physical and mental decline since my dad died eight years ago..
Mum has developed a strange walk over the past couple of years,nobody picked up on it-I put it down to her hearing and sight problems-half blind from being shot in the eye when she was a child and her deafness from working on noisy lace machines years ago,her balance has been off for years-she has had a permanent catheter fitted two years ago,as she was unable to pass urine,no reason was given to me or elaborate tests done,other than a ultrasound to see how much she had stored in her bladder-no neurological tests-nothing I was just told,her bladder is a muscle and when you get old,things do wear out in your body,no medical professional pointed her walk,as being odd,or anything to me..housebound though for 5-6 years,and before Xmas her sun downing started just after Christmas,her hallucinations began and memory loss got a bit worse.
During the day,she has been not so bad-little things I can see are unusual behaviour.. The nights have been hell though,up all night most nights-wanting to go to the toilet-either for number 1's- she forgets she has a catheter in,or number 2's when again,she's that constipated,I know there is nothing to come out during the night in that respect..She has pulled the catheter tube out and wandered round the house,scaring both me and my two young daughters who live with her,she has become disorientated and fell a few times-luckily not through the glass doors in almost every room in the bungalow.! She pulled her catheter out last Thurs,I rang the district nurses to come out and put her a new one in-they checked for a UTi and she had,so they got her antibiotics from the Gp who didn't bother to come and check her over.
Mum had a mini mental test by one of the Memory clinic Drs who came to see her about 6 weeks ago-no conclusive diagnosis -I have no letters or paperwork to say who the consultant is or anything-as they wanted her to have a Ct scan-this got cancelled-but no new appt was made for her-I rang her Gp surgery to have to ask who the consultant she is supposed to be under called and can I have their secretary number-also could I speak to the dr of that team that came out to do the mini mental test..I'm at my wits end,I've had approx 8 hours sleep over the past 3 days,most of the daytime has been washing and drying and cleaning up carpets,finally about 3pm the dr who came to do the mini mental test rang me back and asked why mum hadn't been for the ct scan! To cut this long story a bit shorter,I told her how mum had been over the past few weeks-not just the UTI that had made her more confused,I told her that mum wasn't able to chew and swallow much now and she was saying things were in front of her eyes,she had said it in the past to this doctor-but I think the swallowing thing,made her sit up a bit-she said mum could have had a mini stroke and to ring 999-and-and,she might get her scan done then,so I did. She was in a and e for the usual hours,when the dr did come,she did say mum had probably had a mini stroke today,and she was well enough to go home,no need to be admitted,but she would be seen in a stroke clinic in a couple of days,where she would have a ct scan and that would show any dementia whatever up there..So yes,she will be going home shortly. I took off all her ECG sticky pads and got her dressed
Waited for the dr to come back with some asprin..5 minutes later the dr comes back and says I've just read your mums blood test results,everything is fine except she has very low sodium levels in her blood and she will have to be admitted to the medical assessment ward overnight.Part of me,I guiltily felt relieved-finally a night I can actually get some sleep,the other half horrified as to what might happen to mum when she starts her sun downing and stuff . But here iam still wide awake,up at stupid I clock,I don't know,haven't -can't sleep..I have googled though what these implications of low sodium in the blood can do to you and it can cause amongst others, confusion,balance problems,ataxia,memory probs,speech-you name it, the symptoms are the same as dementia related traits and UTI in dementia sufferers problems, which my mum has got at the moment with undiagnosed dementia.. I'm hoping that someone at the hospital will take pity on my mum and scan her there to save the trauma of another different hospital visit- confusing enough for anyone let alone someone in her state of mind and health.. Well,that's a little of what's happening in my life,as I've just found out,you have to push for answers and help when caring for someone with dementia,and I've not even heard the word respite mentioned by anyone I have spoken to including her Gp. Maybe when I have physically collapsed,someone will ask me if I'm ok.. Excuse my tone,just worn out and indulging in a rare bit of self pity,because it's not coming from anywhere else . Lol. Got to laugh or else, you know...
No rest for the wicked,as the saying goes..
I'm the sole carer and only relative of my mum who's 82,and I've been looking after on her physical and mental decline since my dad died eight years ago..
Mum has developed a strange walk over the past couple of years,nobody picked up on it-I put it down to her hearing and sight problems-half blind from being shot in the eye when she was a child and her deafness from working on noisy lace machines years ago,her balance has been off for years-she has had a permanent catheter fitted two years ago,as she was unable to pass urine,no reason was given to me or elaborate tests done,other than a ultrasound to see how much she had stored in her bladder-no neurological tests-nothing I was just told,her bladder is a muscle and when you get old,things do wear out in your body,no medical professional pointed her walk,as being odd,or anything to me..housebound though for 5-6 years,and before Xmas her sun downing started just after Christmas,her hallucinations began and memory loss got a bit worse.
During the day,she has been not so bad-little things I can see are unusual behaviour.. The nights have been hell though,up all night most nights-wanting to go to the toilet-either for number 1's- she forgets she has a catheter in,or number 2's when again,she's that constipated,I know there is nothing to come out during the night in that respect..She has pulled the catheter tube out and wandered round the house,scaring both me and my two young daughters who live with her,she has become disorientated and fell a few times-luckily not through the glass doors in almost every room in the bungalow.! She pulled her catheter out last Thurs,I rang the district nurses to come out and put her a new one in-they checked for a UTi and she had,so they got her antibiotics from the Gp who didn't bother to come and check her over.
Mum had a mini mental test by one of the Memory clinic Drs who came to see her about 6 weeks ago-no conclusive diagnosis -I have no letters or paperwork to say who the consultant is or anything-as they wanted her to have a Ct scan-this got cancelled-but no new appt was made for her-I rang her Gp surgery to have to ask who the consultant she is supposed to be under called and can I have their secretary number-also could I speak to the dr of that team that came out to do the mini mental test..I'm at my wits end,I've had approx 8 hours sleep over the past 3 days,most of the daytime has been washing and drying and cleaning up carpets,finally about 3pm the dr who came to do the mini mental test rang me back and asked why mum hadn't been for the ct scan! To cut this long story a bit shorter,I told her how mum had been over the past few weeks-not just the UTI that had made her more confused,I told her that mum wasn't able to chew and swallow much now and she was saying things were in front of her eyes,she had said it in the past to this doctor-but I think the swallowing thing,made her sit up a bit-she said mum could have had a mini stroke and to ring 999-and-and,she might get her scan done then,so I did. She was in a and e for the usual hours,when the dr did come,she did say mum had probably had a mini stroke today,and she was well enough to go home,no need to be admitted,but she would be seen in a stroke clinic in a couple of days,where she would have a ct scan and that would show any dementia whatever up there..So yes,she will be going home shortly. I took off all her ECG sticky pads and got her dressed
Waited for the dr to come back with some asprin..5 minutes later the dr comes back and says I've just read your mums blood test results,everything is fine except she has very low sodium levels in her blood and she will have to be admitted to the medical assessment ward overnight.Part of me,I guiltily felt relieved-finally a night I can actually get some sleep,the other half horrified as to what might happen to mum when she starts her sun downing and stuff . But here iam still wide awake,up at stupid I clock,I don't know,haven't -can't sleep..I have googled though what these implications of low sodium in the blood can do to you and it can cause amongst others, confusion,balance problems,ataxia,memory probs,speech-you name it, the symptoms are the same as dementia related traits and UTI in dementia sufferers problems, which my mum has got at the moment with undiagnosed dementia.. I'm hoping that someone at the hospital will take pity on my mum and scan her there to save the trauma of another different hospital visit- confusing enough for anyone let alone someone in her state of mind and health.. Well,that's a little of what's happening in my life,as I've just found out,you have to push for answers and help when caring for someone with dementia,and I've not even heard the word respite mentioned by anyone I have spoken to including her Gp. Maybe when I have physically collapsed,someone will ask me if I'm ok.. Excuse my tone,just worn out and indulging in a rare bit of self pity,because it's not coming from anywhere else . Lol. Got to laugh or else, you know...
No rest for the wicked,as the saying goes..
And I hope your mum gets some treatment for all your sakes.
