Re: ? re progression of LBD

[Guest guest]

,

Two things spring to mind.

The strong and cloudy urine - is there any way you can get your mom to drink

more fluids? This is the bodies way of telling you that you need more water

to flush your system out.

Have there been any recent changes in your mom's meds in the last few weeks

or month or so?

Courage

? re progression of LBD

>

>

>My 75 yr old mom, officially diagnosed in 3/04, has been in my

>brother and sister-in-law's home and care since 7/04. Her LBD seems

>to be progressing very quickly. Within the last three weeks her

>cognitive abilities, particularly her ability to speak, put words

>together, etc. have rapidly declined. Monday's caretaker reported

>that Mom talked almost non-stop all day but not much was

>discernable. Tuesday's caretaker reported she slept almost the

>entire day, not saying a half-dozen words. Last night when my sis-

>in-law asked Mom who she was, my Mom could/did not answer -- just

>stared w/ blank look at sis. My brother and sis-in-law were

>dumbfounded this evening upon arriving home. Mom's " speech "

>consisted solely of " mmm, mmm, mmm " , turning her head and almost

>acting as if she was ignoring them for periods of time, at times,

>seeming to try to use one hand to express herself, and periods of

>the blank staring.

>

>Have any of you experienced this and if so, can you give me some

>idea at what stage, i.e. last few months of loved one's life? Mom

>was admitted to our area hospice program about two months ago. Her

>vitals have been strong and consistent so hospice nurse has not been

>able and/or willing to talk about " where " she thinks Mom is in her

>journey toward death up to now. Recently, Mom's urine output has

>greatly slowed, it is very strong and cloudy.

>

>Your comments and sharing will be appreciated.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>Welcome to LBDcaregivers.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/17/2004 10:23:18 PM Central Standard Time,

dunk0452@... writes:

Recently, Mom's urine output has

greatly slowed, it is very strong and cloudy.

laura,

first i have an off the wall question do you live in franklin tenn and did

you ever live in naples italy in teh mid 60's, laura dunk is a duaghter of

long time family friends of my parents from italy , my parents irma and

leonard andersen

anyway the decline could be based on teh description of her urine that sounds

very much like an uti (urinary tract infection) and that does severely affect

our lo's mental/vocal/physical health i recomend having her checked for uti

asap

good luck sharon m

a smile a day keeps the meanies away!!!

laughter is a breath of fresh air!

[Guest guest]

laura, well your name brought back some great memories of a long time ago

some happy pre lbd memories so thank you for that, and definitely check inot

uti because any infection makes our loved ones go off the deep end. my dad

has bronchitis, and we are trying to keep it from turning into pneumonia, and

his mental state and agitation are quite intense rightnow, the amoxiicillin

seems to be helping but i am only giving it 2 times a day as when i gave it 3

times he was even more agigated, and i thought cutting back yet giving him the

entire dose is better than outting him in hosp which he doesnt want so our

recovery is really slow. good luck sharon m

a smile a day keeps the meanies away!!!

laughter is a breath of fresh air!

[Guest guest]

I wrote a long post and then lost my connection. I was reading your

post and haven't been on the site for a while, since our Mom has had

health and cognitive issues which happened very quickly. I don't

think my post went through, so I am trying to write it again. Mom

went to the hospital mid-Sept for a low heart rate. The took her off

all her heart medicine to see if it would go back up and it did.

They kept her totally off one medicine and a few weeks later,

introduced one of the heart meds every other day. This was after she

started getting very winded and fatigued. When she left the

hospital, she was so lucid and was like our Mom from years ago. Very

lucid and strong, all her personality traits were in tact. Then she

started to become fatigued and winded, wasn't sleeping well, sat on

the edge of the bed and got weaker and weaker. They also said she

had iron deficient anemia and put her on iron pills and also

spironolactone for edema in her feet. The cardiologist points to the

dementia as the cause of her issues and the primary physician says

it's her heart problems. Up until a few weeks ago she was going with

me to lunch or errands every day. Now she is in bed most of the

time, we may put her on the bedside commode on occasion. She is

still talking, some days very talkative, others rather quiet.

Sometimes she also just looks beyond us, as you described for your

Mom. We needed help, so called hospice and we also found she has a

yeast infection and we asked that they test for a UTI because of the

description of the urine you mentioned. The Dr. said there weren't

enough white blood cells to say there was an infection (I wonder if

it could be a low grade infection). Of course hospice doesn't do any

blood tests or any tests, unless it is for " comfort " . I often think,

should we have paid for private care first in order to have more

aggressive care. As the advocate for our loved one's, it is so

difficult to know if we are making the right decisions. Anyway, Mom

is in the bed and not eating a lot. I puree a lot of vegetables and

foods and give jello smoothies and applesauce, but would love more

ideas. She doesn't eat a lot. Her urine is as you described and she

never was and still isn't a big fluid or water drinker. She

sometimes has a difficult time drinking from straws. I don't think

this is a good stage of the dementia, but it's so difficult to see

all the other health issues too. Does your Mom eat o.k.? If so, is

she eating solid foods? Any ideas from anyone on this entire

situation?

Judy

>

> My 75 yr old mom, officially diagnosed in 3/04, has been in my

> brother and sister-in-law's home and care since 7/04. Her LBD

seems

> to be progressing very quickly. Within the last three weeks her

> cognitive abilities, particularly her ability to speak, put words

> together, etc. have rapidly declined. Monday's caretaker reported

> that Mom talked almost non-stop all day but not much was

> discernable. Tuesday's caretaker reported she slept almost the

> entire day, not saying a half-dozen words. Last night when my sis-

> in-law asked Mom who she was, my Mom could/did not answer -- just

> stared w/ blank look at sis. My brother and sis-in-law were

> dumbfounded this evening upon arriving home. Mom's " speech "

> consisted solely of " mmm, mmm, mmm " , turning her head and almost

> acting as if she was ignoring them for periods of time, at times,

> seeming to try to use one hand to express herself, and periods of

> the blank staring.

>

> Have any of you experienced this and if so, can you give me some

> idea at what stage, i.e. last few months of loved one's life? Mom

> was admitted to our area hospice program about two months ago. Her

> vitals have been strong and consistent so hospice nurse has not

been

> able and/or willing to talk about " where " she thinks Mom is in her

> journey toward death up to now. Recently, Mom's urine output has

> greatly slowed, it is very strong and cloudy.

>

> Your comments and sharing will be appreciated.

>

>

[Guest guest]

judy says:

As the advocate for our loved one's, it is so

difficult to know if we are making the right decisions. Anyway, Mom

is in the bed and not eating a lot. I puree a lot of vegetables and

foods and give jello smoothies and applesauce, but would love more

ideas. She doesn't eat a lot. Her urine is as you described and she

never was and still isn't a big fluid or water drinker. She

sometimes has a difficult time drinking from straws.

hi judy,

hmm could be the early stages of an infection, but alotof whatyou describes

can relate to uti.

drinking from straws takes a thought process taht sometimes our loved ones

dont have anymore, how about a sipee cup instead??? that she woud just drink

from not have to 'suck ' like a straw. just a thought .

take care hugs sharon m

a smile a day keeps the meanies away!!!

laughter is a breath of fresh air!