The Third Step in Medications

Several months ago, Mom's neurologist and I talked about three steps in medication to address her mental challenges.  The first step was to increase Aricept which is a drug used for Alzheimer's patients and that worked for a while.  She really did connect with reality on more of a regular basis.  The next step was to change her anti-depressant and that had relatively little impact so last week we enacted phase three - seroquel.  This is an anti-psychotic drug that can have powerful side effects which is why the pharmacist called it the "last ditch drug."  We're to that stage although she's on a very low dose.  On Monday we have an appointment to meet with Dr. Kirschner and I hope to have a better understanding of what I can expect with this drug (along with how to use it.)

This is so necessary as I've watched Mom deteriorate and lose touch with reality.  She often starts with a saying such as "I know that you know that I know that God knows that I know..." and I think, "uh oh, here we go again."  From there she may try to tear her clothes, break her glasses, spit out her food or throw whatever is in her hands.  She's even tried to bite me and the behaviors remind me so much of the times that I worked with the severely developmentally disabled at Fircrest.  I've been so glad that I had that experience since it's helped me to deal with Mom.This is all very confusing for Dad and he usually tells her that he loves her and will sit and hold her hand.  One time he was kissing her and she started clearing her throat and spit at him.  Watching her mind unravel is hard on him so I'm grateful that he seems to be able to disappear into a book and shut out reality for awhile.

Gail came last weekend and it was such a gift to me to be able to take off for one night (I went to Renton to hang out with my friends Juli and Ed).  I went to church with Juli in the morning and then came home and took Ben to North Creek.  That night we had our new church development team at our house so I had a full day of worshipping and reflecting on God's goodness.  In order to give us quiet with our group, Gail took Mom and Dad to Marysville where she met up with Adie.  Right before it was time to leave, Mom started with "I know that..." so we gave her some seroquel and got her settled in the car.  Gail asked us to pray for her and you better believe that we did!  I don't think I would've attempted to take her like that but Gail is amazing in that way.  She handles Mom so well and I never have a moment's concern when she's caring for them.  They ended up having a very nice dinner and were glad that they'd gone.

This week has been fairly stable but we've stayed really close to home.  I did take my day off and trusted that their caregiver (Sita) from Visiting Angels would be able to handle them.  She did and it was such a relief to come home and have everything calm.  I started with Visiting Angels the week before and came home to Mom having an episode.  I wasn't completely confident when I left this week but I decided I had to go.  I've been fighting depression and when I visited the dentist this week discovered my gums were bleeding - a sign of stress and a compromised immune system.  That was a big wake up call so I'm determined to take better care of myself.  It will do no one any good if I get cancer or have a nervous breakdown!  I'm also trying to figure out how to get a vacation in - we'll probably have to string together a variety of caregivers so that we can be gone for at least a week.  It has now been more than 7 months and the most I've been able to get away has been two nights.  This is where I start to get panicky and wonder how much longer I can do this?  Then I remember that this is a calling and I lean into God.  He always provides just what I need at the right moment (like Gail last weekend.)  With the longer days, Bekah coming home for the summer and the possibility of a week vacation, I think I'm going to be fine.  Now we'll just see what Dr. Kirschner has to say.