It's been a while. Finding two minutes these days seems to be a monumental task. It's 11pm and I'm just now getting to making dinner. But it has been a good night and that's been a bit rare these days.
My mom has been getting worse recently. She's confused and forgetful. About a month ago I took her to Patient First because I suspected another urinary tract infection. For those of you who don't know apparently urinary tract infections can affect even the most stable brains. Mom was hospitalized last August because of a UTI and I was trying to avoid that. Her psychiatrist had planned on changing her medicine at that visit in hopes it would work better for her, but that was put on hold till she was stable. I faught her about going to the doctor, but since she was in my van and couldn't really walk home she relented and went in. Of course my suspicions were right and the doctor described it as a "raging UTI." Lovely. The doctor said he couldn't evaluate her confusion, but suggested she would be fine in a few days and if I were really concerned to head to the ER. When we arrived at her house mom turned to me and said "well, now are you going to admit there was nothing wrong with me?" Um, yeah nothing but the raging UTI, caused by your lack of good hygeine, that's affecting your mental state. Are you kidding me?
After she finished the antibiotic she actually said to me "I should have listened to you. You were trying to help and I should have let you." That made it worth it, although I know I will probably never hear those words again.
A month later she is showing signs of another UTI. It's been a rough month with the flu sending both my sister and me to the ER and me staying for 4 days for tachycardia and asthma. It shows me how difficult life can be. God, any time you want to make it easier just go ahead. My younger brother has been helping recently so that's been really wonderful.
Tonight I went to a presentation on Dementia by EVMS and Sentara. The speaker was Soo Borson MD who is a Psychiatrist who specializes in Dementia. I've long suspected mom may also have Dementia with the Schizophenia. In talking with Dr Borson I learned that Schizophrenics often have a form of Dementia that is different than any other form of Dementia and the onset is generally around the age of 60. Mom is 64. When I described the symptoms she agreed that it is probably Dementia. So mom has an appointment with her primary care doctor tomorrow to be evaluated and to check for another UTI. I got some resources to look into as well.
But the best part of tonight besides getting answers was at the end. I wanted to thank Dr Borson for her help and she said to me that I was definitely what she called a "Super Coper." It's what happens to people if they've had to deal with this from a young age. She said she could see it with my first question.
I don't know. It just made me feel like I should be wearing a cape.
