Posted 11/1/22 (a full house in cards…)
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore. -Psalm 121:1-8
Just a quick– (LOL…I said quick regarding a post…. 🙂 ) — update on mom since I am booked to the proverbial gills today. She has had at least one more significant seizure since last we “talked” at the table. Her face is dropping more and her head is turned more left than normal. It happened in a very similar way to the other handful: at or around breakfast, for no apparent reason, her eyes rolled back and she shook and struggled to breath/get control…then all was ok. It is interesting to me, as about as un-doctor of a person as I can get, that there are so many similarities from the previous ones. Preface: mom has “Mixed dementia“, which is just an unfancy way of saying she was given two types of the disease: Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia. The vascular head of this two-headed head hurter means that she struggles with small blood vessels in her brain and it may contribute to the likelihood of having TIAs (mini-strokes, for the lack of a better term) and/or seizures.
I found this from an epilepsy advocacy organization (emphases/italics are mine) :
“7,086 cases with Alzheimer’s disease, 4,438 with vascular dementia (Total n=11,524) were matched to dementia-free patients. Of these, 180 cases with an incident diagnosis of epilepsy were found. The incident rate of seizures for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia was 5.6 per 1,000 person years and 7.5 per 1,000 person years respectively; and it was 0.8 in the dementia free group. They also noted that patients with longer standing Alzheimer’s disease, more than three years, had a higher risk of developing seizures and epilepsy than those with a shorter disease duration whereas patients with vascular dementia, the opposite was observed. The authors concluded that seizures and epilepsy are substantially more common in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia than in patients who do not have dementia. The role of disease duration as a risk factor for seizures and epilepsy seems to differ between Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. (but if you have both…….)
This study helps to delineate the unique aspects of Alzheimer’s disease especially in terms of its increased risk for seizures as compared to other dementias which may have a different mechanism by which the risk factor for epilepsy may occur. Obviously, more work is needed in this area to understand why there is an increased risk of epilepsy associated with two of the most common forms of dementia – Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.”
Here is another, similar link.
(Armchair researcher mode kicks in)
All of mom’s seizures have been in the morning before or during breakfast…hmmmm…what is different then?
I wonder….I just wonder…mom sleeps/lays at 180 degrees most every day for nearly the whole day. Is it possible that when she is first raised to a 90 degree angle to eat if the corresponding head rush that would be inconvenient for the 51 year old me is far worse if you have vascular issues and a hindered noggin? Perhaps she should be raised from zero to 30 degrees for a bit to acclimate, then 45, then 60, then 75, then 90? Oh, but nursing homes are so short-staffed that they are doing good to get the folks out of bed to begin with. My theory is great, but the execution is impossible.
How about this, geniuses/Shark Tank show enthusiasts…an automated bed that would accomplish this? Or even a slow, steady ascent from 0 to about 75 degrees that requires a single button and/or can be pre-scheduled? I am 100% sure this could be created. My bed at home can be raised via motor to those angles, but not quite as slowly and preferably without a carcass like mine on it…so the lifting tech is practically ubiquitous…It can be done.
(Places loss prevention hat on for some internal dialog)
Q. But what if the patient falls out of bed?
A. We just put bed rails and a pad on the floor and perhaps a gentle cummerbund-looking strap to prevent falling?
Q. But what about the laws that strictly forbid these restraints? Do you WANT a $1,000,000 fine?
A. Restraints? These are safety measures!
Q. Who made you the boss here? I am an actuary. I know the odds…
A (to self). I am not sure what an actuary is.…and am now debating ending this sentence with the word IS. {Googling] Ah…you are calculating the odds of something bad happening. I get it. Well, isn’t it bad that my mom has potentially (???) preventable seizures?
Q. Do you realize how short-staffed they are? They do pay staff a shiny nickel more per hour than the Chum Bucket restaurant pays their staff.
Reality strikes
I guess it was a dumb idea. 🙁 I’ll ask the Hospice folks. (Awkward…maybe I will ask them if we can get them back. 🙁 )
Summary: I wish I could stay home with mom and help her myself, but society, and near double-digit inflation dictates that we work hard until we finally get ready to retire…when we get sick instead. Heaven can’t get here soon enough…
Sorry if this came across a little far-fetched and a lot venty. It is just a bit frustrating. I look forward to seeing mom tonight…
#EndALZ
One more link you need to know:
https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke/stroke-symptoms
