Another Visit to the Neurologist
Since Mom was diagnosed, I have learned there are some treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately treatments do not cure or revert brain damage, but a few medications do slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms.
The two medications that we are familiar with are Aricept and Exelon. Both are most effective early in the illness when Alzheimer’s disease symptoms first appear. Mom started out with Aricept, but her system couldn’t tolerate it. She has had better success with the Exelon patch.
For Mom, her Alzheimer’s disease treatment includes the medication and visits twice a year to her neurologist. The neurologist visits seem more like monitoring than treatment. This past week Mom had an appointment. The doctor seems like a very nice person, and his specialty is Alzheimer’s and dementia. His office is about an hour away in Indianapolis, so the visits are usually a day long adventure for Mom and I.
A few days before the appointment, I started reminding Mom about it. She always dreads going, but once we’re out she usually enjoys herself. I made sure to explain to Mom that this appointment was a little earlier than usual (11:00 a.m.), and we would need to leave by 9:30 to allow time for traffic and parking.
Mom was up early the day of her appointment, and I checked on her progress a few times as she was getting ready. When I would observe her start to get distracted and piddle around, I would gently remind her that she needed to get ready. In spite of my best efforts, she did get behind and was not ready to leave at 9:30. I was frustrated with her and she became defensive as I tried to get her to hurry so we could leave. We left about 15 minutes later than I wanted to, but we made good time on the road and we both managed to relax a little. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and Mom was happy to be out.
The visit was very routine. First, they took Mom by herself to give her a depression screen and a memory test. After that was over, her and I both went to talk to the doctor. The doctor said he was a little concerned because her depression screen showed she may be more depressed. I mentioned to him that Mom rarely wants to go anywhere and usually spends her day in her pajamas and robe. He decided to try taking her off of the Zoloft and putting her on different antidepressant, Effexor.
The doctor was pleased with Mom’s memory. He said she had actually improved a couple of points over past memory tests. Mom was very happy with this news and beamed with pride. I asked if it was common for an to see improvement on memory tests. He said it happens sometimes, especially when the patient is undergoing medical treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. He said for Mom to continue using the Exelon patch each day since she is having a lot of success with it.
On the way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel and had a nice lunch. As we drove home afterward, Mom talked about her car. She said she really hated that it was just sitting there, and that she’d really like to get it fixed up so she could drive. I told Mom that if we fixed it up we could keep it for an extra car, but she really didn’t need to drive. “Why, do you think I’m not qualified?” she said indignantly. “Mom,” I gently explained, “with your Alzheimer’s you don’t need to be driving.” “Well, I don’t think I even have Alzheimer’s,” she snapped. I tried reasoning with her for a little bit, but when that didn’t work I just changed the subject.
It was sad because I think the doctor’s comments boosted her up a bit, but the discussion about her driving brought her back down. Also, this made we realize how strange this disease is. Her memory is doing well, but at times she seems more confused and disoriented.
