LBD and MSA

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

I just got home from the appointment my FIL had today with a

neurologist at Emory for a second opinion. He put my FIL through a

battery of tests to watch how he tracks his eyes from L to R and up

and down. He did fairly well with that. He also had him subtract a

series of numbers by 7 each time and he did well with that, too.

The shocker came when my FIL was asked what month it was and he said

May. He, then, was asked what year it was and he said it was 1974.

I was completely stunned. He also didn't know the day of the week,

but could tell the city and state he was in. He tested my FIL's

mobility by having him walk with and without his walker.

Surprisinly enough, he did relatively well. Of course, not long

after we left the doctor's office, he got really bad. We went to a

restaurant and three different men had to help him get seated and

stand back up again. When we got back to my house, he fell

backwards and fell into the garbage can, but didn't get hurt,

thankfully.

Anyhow, due to my FIL's memory problems and the fact that he has an

active tremor, the doctor said he doesn't have " typical PD " . In

fact, at this juncture, he's leaning towards Diffuse Lewy Body or

Multiple Systems Atrophy (because he's having problems with urinary

incontinence and constipation). So, he's ordered that my FIL

undergo 4 hours of neuropsychological testing in 6 weeks and he's

also ordered an MRI. He said those things should help him come to a

definitive diagnosis. He's going to wean my FIL off the Sinemet CR

during the day over a period of the next three weeks. He said his

philosophy with meds sometimes is that less is more. Does anyone

here know anything about MSA? What is the prognosis, in comparison

to LBD? Any info. would be much appreciated.

I'll keep you posted,

April

P.S. My FIL is currently falling anywhere from 8 to 16 times a

day. My poor MIL is worn completely out. Just being with my FIL

for 6 hours today wore me out. I don't know how she does it.