General Chat

So sorry Jess to hear about your Mum i worked with some one who,s Mum was like yours she was once spotless and then went the other way and was hitting her husband and in the end she was sectioned had become v violent had to go into care her husband went every day to see her baked her cakes and still loved her of course ,sadly he Died B/fore her so she wasn,t aware he had gone. But strangley she Died not long after him, i always felt so sorry for my workmate It really took it,s toll on her. I,m sure you have a good Husband and friends who will support you Don,t F/Get to take care of your self will you . Moon Hare..

Jess, i am very sorry to hear that your mum is unwell. Its such a nasty horrible thing to have. sending you my huggles and best wishes xxxxxxx

Jess, it sounds familiar - all the questions you must be asking yourself, I really feel for you and hope your questions are answered very soon.......x Sally

I am so sorry to hear that. It is such a cruel illness. I am glad you started the ball rolling. I had to do a similar thing for my uncle - made more difficult as he lives in London, the other side the country. If you can, do an assessment yourself now so that you will be able to say in a few months time this has got worse. It is really difficult to remember how long people have been getting muddled or forgetting things. The magic phrase to use is 'I think she might be a danger to herself or others' then they have to investigate.

Hi Jess hope it went okay with the nurse and wasn't as bad as you were expecting dawnie( Ria in disguise)

Have just left another message on her voice mail thinggy - I guess she is busy doing whatever community practice nurses 'do' on a monday morning. hope she rings me soon. jess

Mmmmn. Have now spoken to the nurse. What mother says she does/can do appear to be 2 completely different things! The nurse , who was very nice, and shall we say 'detected' some of the more 'obvious' things and when questioning mum, got answers that were, shall we say, What mother thought the nurse wanted to hear! Oh Heck!- still, the nurse was perceptive enough to realise what was happening. Apparently her blood/sugar was tested and was 24 ,what ever that means (any diabetics out there?) and Nurse Rang GP. GP came out and despite what the nurse has said to mum would probably happen (be admitted to Hosp) she wasn't- although the nurse, (bless her, had a day off today) wasn't aware of that.She will ring me back tommorow and tell me if mother refused to go or if not, why she wasnt admitted. I really wish she had been hospitalised!- Then some of the assesment could have been done, sooner rather than later. You cant exactly sit and Pee and it go un-noticed in hospital can you? Sorry . long winded- needed to sound off a bit frustrated but at least i can phone this practice nurse at any time and she will know what i am on about! Jess xx

Jess think normal blood sugar level is about 5. don't take that as gospel but think its 4 - 7 is normal. At least nurse could see through bits and realised what was going on, lets hope something gets done quickly for all of you. dawnie

Sounds like the nurse is on your side and will understand should you need to talk to her. Make sure you take advantage of that to ensure your mum gets what she needs. A proper assessment would still be good and I would push for it in your position. Angela

Jess Hope I'm not missing the point here - if so, just ignore! I take it the nurse is suspecting Diabetes, which does have many symptoms similar to Alzheimers. However, if this is so, please don't raise your hopes too much. I have recent experience of this - the elderly father of a friend (son lives abroad, I am on the doorstep, so I became a sort of surrogate daughter). Elderly man's wife was distressed that Dad had 'gone peculiar'. I went along to investigate and although he managed to hold the conversation well for about twenty minutes, he eventually started talking rubbish. I was concerned enough to phone the GP and request a home visit, stating that it was not an emergency, but that it was, in my opinion, very urgent. GP duly arrived and diagnosed diabetes which was immediately treated. She said he showed no signs of confusion when she spoke to him (for five minutes). Dad appeared to be 'better' at first glance but was actually still away with the fairies most of the time. I told his wife to hide his car keys as I felt he was a danger on the road. Sadly, a week later, his wife died suddenly at home. He did not notice she was dead. Fortunately, a good neighbour found her and Dad was taken to the County Hospital for 'care', as there was no family available. He repeatedly fell out of bed, wandered around and attempted to get into bed with other patients. Still they wouyld not diagnose Alzheimers, saying only that he was distressed at his wife's death. But when I saw him, he wistfully told me that he thought his wife must have gone off with another man because he hadnt seen her around for ages (They had been married 62 years) Eventually, still diabetic, he was placed in a lovely Home. They immediately spotted that he had Alzheimers but it was months before he could be moved to a Home with the facilities to deal with this condition and the first Home had to resort to putting him to sleep on a mattress on the floor - he couldn't get up from the floor. A bed with cot sides was no good, as he just climbed over the sides and fell even further. Jess, I truly hope your Mum 'only' has diabetes. I know you are intelligent enough to appreciate that she could possibly have BOTH conditions, and that Medical Staff are always reluctant to make a diagnosis of Alzheimers, cos that is going to cost them money. Thinking of you. Olde Crone

Aw Bless her Jess!!!! I am diabetic and blood sugar levels are vital!!! The should be between 4.5 and 7.5 in a normal adult!! But when they are running low or high the sufferer can do some weird things!!! Eg when i have been low (hypo= lower that 4.5) I have been known to lie on the bonnet of the car and try to go to sleep, not good!! and very embarrassing to the rest of the family!!! Low bloods cause major hallucinations so i understand why it could be misunderstood ad alzheimers!! High blood sugars cause major fatigue and thirst, feeling floppy and apathetical could also be diagnosed!!! Lets hope its only diabetes that needs controlling cos then you have something to work with!!! Good luck to you all!! Karen

Whilst I would not wish to raise anyone's hopes, I understand that dehydration can be a cause of confusion. The elderly don't always bother to eat or drink regularly and this can be difficult to recognise until they become too confused to cope. Plenty of fruit for them to nibble on can help to provide some nourishment as well as a little moisture and herbal teas can be better than too much coffee or tea, if they will drink them. Thank God my parents did not develop this dreadful problem, both were ill with other things but at least I did not have to contend with the confusion of Alzheimers. Good luck to you all with this sadness in the family.

BTW high blood sugars also cause dehydration!!! Karen

Jess you are a good girl, you have done the right thing. and Bev, you too. you are great daughters. Deanna X

Mum is very deffo a dignosed diabetic- she has been injecting insulin - or supposed to have been - for the last 10 or so years.However she has made no alterations to her diet whatsoever, save no sugar Fizzy pop. When confronted about what she eats she says she doesnt eat many sweet things...and what can you say that she hasn't been told before? In terms of 'volume', she eats very little - and when your wife is cantankerous at the best of time (and cantankerous is being fair!!) - how do you as her Husband (my dad) make her only eat what she should? ....She isnt a child. WE know what she should and shouldnt have, MAKING her have them, and only them is an impossible task- much as she can no longer cook a meal , she can help herself to biscuits and bits and pieces. Sorry i am waffling quite simply because i am so frustrated both WITH and FOR her,and there is nothing i can do to change ANYTHING, save getting moved and giving dad a bit of respite from the day - in, day - out care routine. So frustrated i could cry jess x

Sorry to hear about your mum Jess. Hope that you are ok. Please get all the help and support from her surgery that you can. Maggy

Thanks Deanna, your support has been brilliant and today went better than expected. I'll mail you tomorrow. Love Bev x

Nudging for Chrissie & to ask Jess if things are ok??? :0) Joan xxxxxxx

Thanks Joan but I meant when she went out this morning on meals on wheels:)) I have found the thread and she has added to it. Thanks for the thought though.

Sorry Chrissie whoops!! Still, I hope you are ok Jess. :0) Joan xx