Re: Cyndi/Gareth update-/ Margaret

[Guest guest]

Margaret, forgive me for not recalling, but does Gareth have hypothyroidism

and/or recently had his thyroid levels checked (blood test)??!!

Reason I ask is that a couple of days ago I was reading an article about

undiagnosed hypothyroidism & how symptoms presented can be and are (too) often

mistaken for Alz./dementia/psychosis in young adults/older adults with DS.

I will try to find the article & provide a link as soon as I can between my

current massive poop/throwup cleanup duties...

Peace. Hearthugs.

Kris

>

> Hi, Everyone....Cyndi....Happy belated Birthday. Hope you enjoyed the day.

> Stress is one of the leading causes of weight gain.......I sincerely

> doubt you're alone on that issue!!! Try not to be too hard on yourself.

>

> Gareth update......first off, even with my medical background, I am totally

> lost on all this brain *stuff* and am treading in new territory. If there

> is anyone out there who has any insight or knowledge, please help me out.

> As many of you know, Gareth has been dx'd with early AD by the local Neuro

> doc (MD). We went to HMC last month for @ 3 hrs of testing by their neuro

> doc (PhD) who deals with AD pts. The first report she handed me had to do

> with those testing. It is the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test:

>

> Total recall --- normal T<20 --- Gareth < 0.1 ---- Impaired.

> Delayed recall ---- same numbers and listed as Impaired.

> Retention --- listed as Borderline.

> Discrimination ---- Impaired.

> Facial Recognition test ---- Severely impaired!!!

> Judgement of Line orientation --- severely defective

>

> She told me that if I took all of the old photos from myself or any other

> family member and cut off the hair, glasses, etc., and just left the face,

> he would not be able to tell me who they were!!! She says this is NOT

> related to the Autism, she doesn't feel it is AD at all (never mentioned PTSD,

> either) but deficiencies in bilateral temporal and left parietal cortical

> regions of the brain. She says he can learn new things over time but they

> have to be repeated over and over again.......no one shot intro and

> expecting him to know it. He has an excellent memory of learned stuff, just

no

> ability to learn/remember new stuff.....IE instructions to do something,

> when we will do something, when we will go somewhere, etc.

>

> Also.....she did another 2 hrs of testing for word/verbal recognition and

> he scored in the high 4-5th Grade levels. Stuff like.......she showed him

> a compass and asked him what it was. He told her north, south, east, west

> but couldn't come up with the word 'compass.' She gave him a choice of 3

> words --- thermometer, compass, or ruler. He said compass immediately.

> Stuff like that. She said that the fact that he knows the word but can't

> retrieve it is totally different. How can he be so smart in that aspect and

> can't recognize a familiar face?!?!?!? She says unless I want to go through

> the day playing guessing games and offering multiple choice questions, then

> he won't be able to tell me all he can. That would all be frontal lobe

> issues.

>

> I am soooooooooooo confused. Do we have a brain specialist on this

> site?!?!?

>

> Take care, Everyone.

> Margaret

>

>

>