Posted 12/23/18 Had a solid visit with mom today. She was very anxious when we got there and didn’t eat squat…but the visit wasn’t bad. We brought in her portable keyboard and she figured out a few songs. I visited with her treatment team a little and it looks like we are getting closer to…
Author: Mark Applegate
Christian, husband, and dad...and a workplace chiropractic geek and cornbread chef on the side. I am also happily the Director of Systems Alignment for the SeniorAge Area Agency on Aging.
Moon Full of Anxiety
Posted 12/22/18 So, on full moon night it was a train wreck for mom at the behavioral health hospital. Now 2 days of much better reports. We are bringing her electronic piano today. That should make her a happy camper, at least for a while. I used to think that those that thought full moons…
Coastering to a Stop
12/20/18 Roller coaster ride with mom continues. All reports are that she had a good day, Yesterday was also good…looking up. But they further tweaked her meds again just in time to have a terrible visit with Pam and John tonight. Brain meds on a “normal ” brain are hard enough. Working on the chemistry…
Less Bird Woman
Posted 12/19/18 late Had a pleasant visit with mom today. She seems more lucid and, although the quantity and quality graph of her words go in opposite directions, it was nice that she was talkative. Her words were many, not unlike a slightly Nyquilled 3 year old. They were generally all full words too, not…
Mom’s Diagnosis
Posted 12/19/19 “There is age-appropriate involution with expected changes of ventricles and sulci, cisterns are not effected. There is no intraparenchymal area of restricted diffusion, mass effect or midline shift. Craniocervical junction is unremarkable. There is findings of partially empty sella. Orbits and paranasal sinuses are unremarkable. There are confluent (re: merging together…this is not…
I Want a Hippocampus for Christmas
12/18/18 I am a brain nerd. I have always been a brain nerd. I love to think about the irony of using my brain to study it. Two of my favorite books in my readings in 2018 were https://smile.amazon.com/When-Air-Hits-Your-Br…/…/0393330494 and https://smile.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Lif…/…/ref=sr_1_2… . (Smile.amazon.com lets you donate a small part of your purchase on Amazon to a charity of your choice)…
A Smaller, Bigger Room
Posted 12/16/18 Visited mom at the geriatric behavioral health hospital yesterday and today. She was less anxious this afternoon. It is certainly not enriching in the most generous definition, but she is safe and they are working on her meds. We sincerely hope to have her back where she was before Christmas. She said (between…
Behavioral Health Hospital
Posted 12/15/18 Anxiety goes hand-in-hand with Alzheimer’s patients as long as they meet one of two conditions: they are at least subconsciously aware of their inability to make clear and mentally-pleasing decisions and they are not drugged like Jerry Garcia. Last night mom was brought to a different facility for a while to help her…
Challenges
Posted 12/14/18 Profound challenges today. More later. Anxiety and door checking aplenty. #EndALZ
Melatonin
Posted 12/13/18 We have a new, simpler med plan for mom now. The Melatonin has naturally helped her sleep, but the anxiety and corresponding hunting and gathering is still a frequent thing. (Mom has been getting sleepy earlier, which will be fine unless she gets up at 4am.) She, like her brain, frantically searches for…