: Re: new to the group (sorry...long)

[Guest guest]

Hi :

Welcome to the group. Sorry about your situation. My LO (my dad)

had a similar experience. He lived alone with my mom and was

functional -- talking, eating, walking with a walker -- until July

16th, when he had a stroke. He then started to have hallucinations,

violence, could no longer stand, his food had to be pureed, etc. He

was already having heart problems and he was 89 years old, he passed

on August 18th.

I am amazed that you are able to do so much with your jobs and home

and now your aunt. I don't know where you live, but you may find a

service that can check on her more than once a day, as meals on

wheels will be doing. Are you sure you need to visit her twice a

day? Is she physically healthy otherwise? Meals on wheels will be

there once a day, although it is not their job to check everything

about her, I think they will let you know if anything is really

wrong. You need to keep yourself healthy, it gets more complicated

as the disease progresses.

Are there any other nieces or nephews? I imagine she has no children

of her own, or they would be there to help you. Have you given any

thought to the future, when she can no longer care for herself? She

obviously will want to stay in her own home as long as possible. Can

you talk to her about it? Her DR's assessment of her being in stages

2-3 is hopeful that she will be able to continue living in her home

for a while. The problem is when they start falling and then cannot

reason enough to call 911, but that doesn't seem to be the case now.

I wish I could be of some help. My thoughts and prayers are with you,

Josie

> Hi, I've been a " lurker " for a while, primarily because finding the

> time to post is next to impossible. I am the primary caregiver for

> my Aunt (87). She was diagnosed with LBD two weeks ago. He

> symptoms came on so fast it was scary. For approximately 6 months

> she has been telling me about pets and people at the end of her bed

> and then they would disapear into her closet. I attributed

> these " sightings " to either medication problems or nightmares. In

> July she just fell, no dizzyness, didn't pass out, just fell. We

> brought her into the hospital and they diagnosed her with a low

> potassium level. They loaded her up and then said she could go

home

> but then her bp dropped considerably so they kept her overnight.

> Well, that night all h--- broke loose. She imagined that the woman

> in the bed next to her was her longtime companion (he passed in Feb

> this year) She thought that the surrounding towns had burned down,

I

> had brain cancer, people were conspiring against her, etc. etc.

> etc...Here was this woman who was sharp as a tack just changing

> within moments. Well the doctor put her on Zyprexa once she

entered

> a nursing home, and after just a couple of days, the hallucinations

> stopped completely. She just came home on her birthday last week

> and seems to be doing very well. I'm tired however. She hasn't

> driven in 6 years because of macular degneration (sp?) and has

> always lived alone on a secluded piece of property. I got her life

> line and meals on wheels comes once a day (they are great). But I

> have a family of my own and work 1 1/2 jobs, this is going to be

> very hard being there twice a day. Her doctor says she's in stage

> 2/3 but she seems so ok to me right now. Anyone else out there

have

> their lo on Zyprexa? Thanks for listening. I REALLY need to

vent! -

> Michele