Hi there.
I've spent the last 2 days looking at this great site and getting some ideas to help me. I'm just beginning the journey that so many of you are on and at the moment I feel rather helpless and pathetic. (got through lots of tissues this week!)
I'm an only child (51!) from a family with only a few relatives. I'm married with 3 children (2 at university and 1 at secondary school) and live 300 miles away from my parents. (I'm in Kent, they're in Liverpool)
On Thursday my mum(76) and dad(83) went to see a doctor at the local psych hospital were they were told that dad has early stages AD and has been prescribed Aricept, starting with 10mg for a month then a review. His CT scan shows no abnormal growths but there is shrinkage. He had an initial consultation about 3 months ago but I don't know if any MMSE type tests were done, though mum said they asked dad lots of questions!! (I've only found out about MMSE through this site)
What I want to find out is:
What am I entitled to know from medical profession?
What are my parents entitled to know (dad is perfectly lucid most of the time and is still driving around his local area to church and the shops)?
Does anyone have any knowledge about Aricept and Ebixa and if they can be prescribed together ?
Has anyone used supplements such as gingko biloba and Vit E. Can they be taken together and with Aricept ?
Is there anyone living in the Mersey Health Authority area who's experienced dealing with the health services there and what the quality of care is like?
I don't want to press my mum for info at the moment as I think she's feeling very fragile and bewildered. She has 2 artificial hips and walks with a stick but still plays a bit of bowls and does most of the driving. She says she needs help on how to handle dad. She feels she responds to him in a way that makes him angry and he's started "snapping" at her. She describes him as sometimes being like a petulant child that can't have his own way!
My dad has several long term medical probs. When he was in his 40's he fell and fractured his skull which has left him with deafness and tinnitus in one ear. He also had lung cancer surgery in his 30's and survives on one lung which leaves him susceptible to respiratory probs so he also has an inhaler. Maybe the head trauma is responsible for the AD?
In his working life he travelled around the world for his company and had quite a busy life. Now he gets up late, reads the paper from end to end and looks at the finance world on teletext. (All of this is annoying to my mum cos she says she can't get him moving to go anywhere or do anything). He often stays up til 1 or 2 looking at teletext.
When he does jobs around the house he takes forever and forgets what he's doing, often getting sidetracked and starting something else. He takes little exercise as there is a busy road near their house and on the narrow pavements he feels that he's losing his balance. He has recently bought an exercise bike which is in the garage and will often say he's going for a bike ride to Bootle - though mum says he often doesn't stay there very long!
Anyway thanks for letting me have a place to share with others what I'm thinking at the moment. Any advice or comments would be most appreciated
I've spent the last 2 days looking at this great site and getting some ideas to help me. I'm just beginning the journey that so many of you are on and at the moment I feel rather helpless and pathetic. (got through lots of tissues this week!)
I'm an only child (51!) from a family with only a few relatives. I'm married with 3 children (2 at university and 1 at secondary school) and live 300 miles away from my parents. (I'm in Kent, they're in Liverpool)
On Thursday my mum(76) and dad(83) went to see a doctor at the local psych hospital were they were told that dad has early stages AD and has been prescribed Aricept, starting with 10mg for a month then a review. His CT scan shows no abnormal growths but there is shrinkage. He had an initial consultation about 3 months ago but I don't know if any MMSE type tests were done, though mum said they asked dad lots of questions!! (I've only found out about MMSE through this site)
What I want to find out is:
What am I entitled to know from medical profession?
What are my parents entitled to know (dad is perfectly lucid most of the time and is still driving around his local area to church and the shops)?
Does anyone have any knowledge about Aricept and Ebixa and if they can be prescribed together ?
Has anyone used supplements such as gingko biloba and Vit E. Can they be taken together and with Aricept ?
Is there anyone living in the Mersey Health Authority area who's experienced dealing with the health services there and what the quality of care is like?
I don't want to press my mum for info at the moment as I think she's feeling very fragile and bewildered. She has 2 artificial hips and walks with a stick but still plays a bit of bowls and does most of the driving. She says she needs help on how to handle dad. She feels she responds to him in a way that makes him angry and he's started "snapping" at her. She describes him as sometimes being like a petulant child that can't have his own way!
My dad has several long term medical probs. When he was in his 40's he fell and fractured his skull which has left him with deafness and tinnitus in one ear. He also had lung cancer surgery in his 30's and survives on one lung which leaves him susceptible to respiratory probs so he also has an inhaler. Maybe the head trauma is responsible for the AD?
In his working life he travelled around the world for his company and had quite a busy life. Now he gets up late, reads the paper from end to end and looks at the finance world on teletext. (All of this is annoying to my mum cos she says she can't get him moving to go anywhere or do anything). He often stays up til 1 or 2 looking at teletext.
When he does jobs around the house he takes forever and forgets what he's doing, often getting sidetracked and starting something else. He takes little exercise as there is a busy road near their house and on the narrow pavements he feels that he's losing his balance. He has recently bought an exercise bike which is in the garage and will often say he's going for a bike ride to Bootle - though mum says he often doesn't stay there very long!
Anyway thanks for letting me have a place to share with others what I'm thinking at the moment. Any advice or comments would be most appreciated