New Member

[Guest guest]

Hi . Welcome to the list. Everyone here is

wonderful, supportive and kind.

I am Marie from Boston and my boyfriend, Bob, is the

one who is diabetic, Type 1 for 7 years. I joined

because I needed help as a caregivier.

Marie from Boston

--- Rusk wrote:

> Hi,

>

> I just joined today. I've been a diabetic since I

> was 20, and that was

> 22 years ago. I hope to hear from other members and

> make some friends

> along the way.

>

> Rusk

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi, my name is Veree (age 51) and I live in Gaffney, SC. I have just joined the

group and I am so thankful to have found all of you. I am an only child and am

caring for my mother, age 76, who was diagnosed about 5 months ago with LBD. I

had never heard of this before her diagnosis and neither has anyone else with

whom I speak with, so I know that all of you will be my lifeline!

I was taking her to a neurologist in Charlotte and he treated her for

Parkinson's for 5 years. I knew something else was going on, but he just wasn't

open to questions. I found a neurologist who actually comes to my home town

every other week from his office in Spartanburg and I absolutely love him! He is

the exact opposite of the previous doctor. He answers any questions that I have,

but I don't like to ask in front of my mother if you know what I mean.

He conducted tests, including brain scans of my mother and made the diagnosis.

The other doctor never did any of this (Can you tell that I'm a " bit angry " at

the other doctor or maybe angry at myself for leaving her with him for so

long?)I feel so guilty for not seeking different treatment earlier. My mother is

" going downhill " fast. She is at the point where she doesn't even want to eat

anymore. Sometimes I get so angry and aggravated at her and then I feel so

guilty because I know that she can't help what she does (or doesn't do). It

makes me so sad to see her just wasting away. I am anxious to read all of your

posts and once again thankful that I have found some " friends " . Hope that you

all had a wonderful Labor Day.

Veree

[Guest guest]

Tracey, hello,

I see where you are coming from. Let me assure you that a smart person can

beat the status mental test in the beginning. Don would look at the paper

in the morning of the test for the date, and ask me the month. He could

count backward by seven starting with a hundred far better than I could. Yet,

as the disease progressed for a few more months he couldn't count

backwards. And, over that time he couldn't draw the clock either. At first he

could.

Hallucinations at the beginning are a hallmark presentation of LBD. A

person can have psychosis with LBD, as well as many other mental

manifestations. I hope the doctor prescribed a good medication for your father

this

morning. I would hate to see him put in a hospital if something could be done

at

home with medications. Sometimes it is the only choice though. Safety for

your mother comes first.

If your won't take them, then I would suggest hiding them in his food if

possible. Raw vegetables? Wow! How do you crush a pill and hide it in that?

But then, you are smart too, and you will come up with a way. Get him to

trust you or your mother enough to prepare things for him and hide it in

that. I know psychotic people don't usually trust anyone. But, often time

neither does LBD.

I was the only person Don trusted, and even then he thought I had a

boyfriend sometimes. After my doting love on him, and reassuring him, it could

ease his fears that I was going to leave him for someone else. He was just

afraid of being alone.

Yes, the new caregiver is going to work full time as far as we know at

this time. She is a wonderful take charge person. This morning she did

everything and then some! She is my spiritual sister, and a lovely woman to say

the least. I am so glad she isn't timid about taking charge when I can't, yet,

when I can she always inquires of me what I want. We have been blessed no

end. And yes dear there is a God. Our bodies are too intricate to have just

happened without a creator. Studying the cells alone tells us that.

I hope so much that something can be done for your dad. Be sure everything

in the house, that can be used as a weapon, is out of sight and locked

away so that in the mean time your mom is a little safer. This is imperative.

Love with a smile, for better times,

Imogene

Caregiver for my True Texas Gentleman Husband. Diagnosed with AD in 2005.

And then, with LBD 2006.

A happy personality is contagious. Infect someone today.

Yours Truly

In a message dated 9/9/2009 9:07:56 A.M. Central Daylight Time,

whatifanew@... writes:

Good morning Imogene: The first doctor was from the hospital. Dad

called the Sheriff on the 3rd time to report the " people " and they told us we

could take him or they would. So at that point he spent 13 days in an

inpatient behavoral unit. The psychiatrist there did the mental tests on him

every day and sometimes several times a day. She told me she thought it was

beginning stages of dementia but didn't use that diagnosis on his hospital

discharge. Dad's IQ has always been very high, genious level, which I

believe is causing me a ton of problems. He can't get past his hallucinations,

but he can beat those mental tests almost always, although the memory part

of them is beginning to get to him. The second doctor was his personal

doctor. He didn't see him often, very rarely, but he did know dad. He's the

one that dx'd dad with LBD. This new doctor did do the mental exam and

because dad passed most of it, he decided it was psychosis instead of

dementia. Every few weeks dad will decide to refuse to take his meds. At that

point he becomes very aggressive and I get very worried about mom. I found

out recently that with a dx of dementia or alzheimers I was unable to

involuntarily commit him to get help. However with the psychosis dx I can do

that

when he refuses to take meds and wants to fix himself with is raw veggies

and books. That is never my preference, but I have to look out for both

parents....so I have to use the lesser of 2 evils.

We have another doctor appt with the 3rd doctor again this morning. He

put him back on the meds he was on when he was dismissed from the hospital,

which didn't work. It did calm him down but didn't do anything for his

hallucinations. I tried to tell him that, but it's amazing how they can't seem

to hear. I will again tell him this doesn't work and suggest the meds

I've read here. We'll see what happens. I can say the meds they gave him

didn't make him worse, just didn't do any good, except to calm him some.

Thank you for reading posts and responding. You are an icon in this

group. I hope you and Don are doing well with the new caregiver and I bet she

gets into the swing of things very soon.

Thanks, Tracey, KS