Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Update On Mom's Health Dec 2012

After a very difficult summer I'm happy to say my  mom is healthier than she's been in a while.  Her up days are more "up" and her down days are less frequent.  I'm able to occasionally have coherent adult conversations with her.  The tremors haven't gone away and can be worse at different times of the day.  She is unfortunately on a cycle of a urinary tract infection about once a month.  We are pushing liquids more for her, but she's unwilling to ask the staff at her ALF for help in opening water bottles so I'm not sure what to do.  I can't be there every day to make sure she drinks.  Her doctor didn't want to give her something to prevent the UTI's, because he was concerned about immunosuppression.   So for now we'll push fluids and hope for the best.  At least now her primary care physician allows me to call in and report her symptoms and he calls in antibiotics so I don't have to drag her into the office every time we see symptoms.

For those who may not know or remember UTIs in older adults, especially women, can cause confusion, lethargy and a general decline in mental ability.  Unfortunately the mental decline due to her schizoaffective disorder and the permanent Tardive Dyskinesia caused by Haldol also contribute issues with hygiene that fuel the infections.

For now she's been out of the hospital longer than she has in the last several years and I feel her psychiatrist has finally found a medication combo that is helping her.  She sees a neurologist in January who may be able to help get more control over the tremors.  That isn't without risk and I'm hoping that doesn't land her in a psyche ward while we try out medication changes.  I really wish there were more options for outpatient help during times like these.  Funding for such programs were cut years ago.

For me, I'm still working on the house sale, but things are slowing down a bit.  I decided to turn to advocacy, but as I've found you have to be careful who you turn to.  I found out about a group that advocates for elderly psyche patients.  Well, they say they advocate.  I told my mother's psychiatrist I was going and he scoffed and said he used to go, but the group only managed to get gero psyche beds reduced so they aren't very effective advocates.  I was told to come and briefly plead my case to them only to find them apathetic and definitely not interested in improving things.  The rumor of more beds at a particular psyche hospital couldn't be confirmed by those in attendance who work at the facility in question.  When I attempted to discuss my concerns I was cut off and told to talk about it in private.  I was invited to talk about these concerns so I was very irritated that they couldn't take time to listen to the issues I was bringing up.

So I'm trying other avenues, but am feeling like change in the Virginia mental health system is a pipe dream.  If anyone cared the wheels would be turning.  Right now they are rusted shut.

On another note, my doctor has told me he feels I have a mild depression going on.  Not really a surprise with everything happening over the past few years.  I'm wondering if there's even been a time in my life where I haven't been at least a little bit in a depressive state.  I've been ordered to take time for myself.  I'm trying, but it's hard.  The first thing on my list is to try to let go of the guilt of not being able to do more to make things better for my mom and others dealing with mental illness.  It's not a battle that many people feel is worth fighting and without homing beacons I don't think I can find enough people who want to help to make a difference.

I'm going to go eat some chocolate and read a cheesy novel.  I think I'll make more progress that way.

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