Had a telephone call today from the psychiatrist who went out to visit mom last week. She feels that mom is suffering from AD and is in the moderate stage. She scored 18/30 on the memory test. She explained a lot of things to us. The reason mom is always crying is that she forgets that dad died fourteen months ago and sometimes she forgets that he has died. When she sees family this brings it back to her and the reminds her that dad has gone. Her grief, because she forgets, is like the raw grief that you get when you first lose someone. This is due to her illness and the doctor feels that there is not much we can do. She does not feel that mom is clinically depressed because, as the home explained, most of the time she is chatty and cheerful except for the odd occasion and ofcourse when we visit. They are going to change her antidepressants though but I can't remember the name of the new drug. What she did say was they might make her seem a little sedated. I am not sure about this but is this the start of things to come. If mom is slightly sedated she may be less tearful but is it fair to sedate her just to make our lives easier. We are going to give it a go. The doctor will visit her in about five weeks and then we can discuss things further. I don't want mom to be sad whenever she sees us but I am not sure that I want her sedated but maybe it won't be too much in the way of sedation. What do you all think. What was nice was that she seemed very concerned that we didn't blame ourselves for mom's illness. She was keen to point out that there was nothing we could do and that we were doing our best. A really nice refreshing change. She also felt that we should tell mom that she is in the care home permenantly but we need to think hard about that one.
Will see how it goes and keep you posted.
Any thoughts would be really appreciated.
Jacky
Will see how it goes and keep you posted.
Any thoughts would be really appreciated.
Jacky