Newly Diagnosed

In the summer of 2007, my sister Shauna had made an appointment for my mom, Suzanne, at the Beaumont Geriatric Center in Royal Oak MI. She was referred by her primary doctor. In attendance was myself, Shauna, my dad Gary and my brother Erich and sister Lynne. The kind doctor told us that mom’s MRI has shown white tangles on the frontal lobes of her brain. This was a clear indication of Dementia. She talked about the different types of Dementia including Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia. She said she was comfortable with the Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis. Later on, it became clear to me that she really has LBD.

The diagnosis was troubling because we really did not have any context or experience with the disease. She recommended the book, “The 24 Hour Day” and gave us each a folder with information about support groups, senior care centers, and the local Alzheimer’s Association contact information.

I will never forget when the doctor told us that our mother should never be left alone at the house. She was now in danger of harming herself or others during ordinary life situations. She said that she could burn herself on the stove or leave something on a lit burner and catch the house on fire. She said she would be having cognition spatial reasoning difficulty, which means losing her balance and not properly judging where to step safely. She told us to safe proof the house like you would for a small child. She warned us that leaving her alone could be considered neglect of an elderly person and could be a prosecutable crime.

My father was in shock! My mom still seemed to be able to care for herself pretty well. She was making herself meals and bathing every day and talking to me on the phone and just seemed to be daydreaming a lot and having trouble focusing her thoughts and conversation. At that time my daughter was just three years old and I live about 52 miles away. In fact, the only sibling in town was my sister Lynne.

Dad was alone for the most part and feeling very nervous and distraught. He was retired at this time, but still kept an active social life. The thought of never leaving her alone was really hard. Mostly, he was sad because the doctor told us there was no cure and she would decline in very major ways. We all knew that we had to support dad and get him some good resources. It was very devastating for all of us.

If you have just gotten a diagnosis for your loved one ask as many questions that you can about the MRI. Today there is much more medical information from these scans. Mom was prescribed Namenda for memory loss. The drugs help, so get your prescription filled immediately.

I will share more in my next post.

Many blessings,

Julie