Today I found out some worrying news about
my 74 year old grandmother. She lives in
a rest home and is pretty active,
extremely intelligent, has never shown any
serious symptoms of any major disease (she
does monitor her blood sugar, but I do not
think she is diabetic). She also has
relatively poor vision.
However, over the past 12 hours or so:
- the home staff found her in the dining
room (the dining room is closed today)
sitting for 4-5 hours. She said she had
thought there was a valentine's day party
(the party was wednesday)
- when my uncle went to visit her, she was
sitting in just her shirt and depends.
Thats not something my grandma typically
does.
- she said she going to see a play tonight
at 7. My mom called her 10 minutes later
and my grandmother said it was at 4.
Then a few minutes later she said she
wasn't really sure but thinks it was at 7
(it turned out to be 4). Keep in mind my
grandmother is the most punctual and
organized person I know. I've never seen
her late for anything.
- she talks to us on aol instant
messenger. She was talking to my mom on
there and she was understanding the convo,
as her responses made sense and she did
make a joke of the sort we've become
accustomed to from her (my mom said she
thought my grandmother should be checked
and my grandmother responded, "like
plaid?"). However, her typing was very
poor (strange variations of capital and
lowercase) and her spelling was off too.
Some words almost looked as if she was
spelling phonetically as opposed to the
real way. This is uncharacteristic as
friday (the last time I talked to her on
aim) her typing was perfect and her
spelling was as well. She also used
words shes always used (for example, she
always says noshed instead of nibbled).
When my mom asked her if she had any of
her vd candy left, she said "i noshed on
95" (we're pretty sure she meant 95%).
She also mentioned that vince (my uncle)
stopped by, so she is aware and
understanding of things.
- when my mom called her, my mom said she
sounded pretty bad (slurred speech, one
word answers). However, she did say that
she wasn't having trouble moving and
didn't have a headache or anything.
- when my uncle came to take her to the
hospital, she didn't let him in. He got
security to let him in and she claimed
that she had asked repeatedly "who is it?"
and no one answered. She is very
disoriented.
- sometime either during the trip to the
hospital or at the hospital (not sure),
she soiled herself.
Shes in the hospital having tests run, but
i'm just trying to get a feel for what
else it could be besides a stroke.
Any ideas? Am I off on the stroke
diagnosis? Whats throwing me off is the
fact she has no headaches or weakness or
paralysis.
I know I know let the doctors run their
tests but i'd like some hypothesis as
well.
|
Cutwolf
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 14
Posted: 02-18-07 21:20pm
A couple new things:
- the doctors asked her for a urine sample
and gave her the container. She went into
the bathroom, came out, and said she did
it. The doctors went into the bathroom to
retrieve the bottle and it was still
closed and everything. When the doctors
mentioned this to her, my grandmother said
"it must have been a different bottle" but
there were no other bottles.
- my grandmother asked the nurse "when are
you springin' me outta here?" (as I said
before, shes still herself but not
herself...Its very hard to describe.
Thats a joke shed normally make). Then
she somehow brought up that they'd been
there for an hour already, but in reality
they've been there 3.5 hours.
Its really strange because her mind seems
fine. Shes aware and responsive. She
responds to requests, can carry on normal
conversations, and has no paralysis.
Yet, it is almost as if shes going through
actions in her head that she means to go
through with in person (like when she
claimed she said "who is it?" at the door
but never did) but actually doesn't.
However, her mind tells her that she did
go through them. Does that make sense?
|
Cutwolf
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 14
Posted: 02-19-07 00:20am
The doctor said a bunch of things wrong
with her but he went so fast my uncle only
had time to catch a few.
- dehydration
- low electrolytes
- something was 400 that was supposed to
be 200 but he didn't catch what it was
(any idea?)
also, they kept having her take a urine
sample and she kept going in and coming
out with no sample. Then she went in
there and stayed in for like 25 minutes
and wouldn't let the doctors in. They let
themselves in and she had went all over
herself.
Can severe dehydration do all this to an
elderly woman?
|
Cutwolf
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 14
Posted: 02-19-07 15:29pm
The Drs first said they thought it was a
mini stroke and were going to do another
EKG. Then they found bacteria in her blood
from a urinary tract infection that
spread. They're treating that and said
that should fix everything.
|
mominashoe
Supporter
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 1560 Location: , USA
Thanks: 13
Thanked:3
Posted: 03-25-08 08:59am
It seems like your grandmother is showing
signs of dementia/Alzheimer's so I am
copying the topic over there in case you
need more support.
|
CarolDiane
Moderator
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2225 Location: Finally a picture to a name,
Thanks: 87
Thanked:126
Posted: 03-29-08 11:48am
You last question you posted was: "Can
severe dehydration do all this to an
elderly woman? " The answer would have to
be yes. When your electrolytes are low
and off balance it affects everything
going on inside you brain. Your hindsight,
memory, hillusinations and much more.
After reading both your posts, it's sound
like she has alot going one. The "rule
out" phase can be long and tormenting. It
can take days, months and sometimes years.
Did you know that the only real way to
diagnose Alzhiemers Desease is after
death. It can not be anything performed
while the brain is still functioning. The
medical proffession has to be very careful
when diagnosing Alzhiemers. That is why
you hear so much more about "Dementia".
Dementia is so much more common in the
elderly and is more or less an every day
thing. There are three stages of
Alzhiemers. Begining is the slight memory
loss. Second stage is complete memory loss
not ever recognizing your own son or
daughter. Third stage is when the anger
and combativeness comes to play. The
patient actually looses their sense of any
reality to the point of total
aggressiveness. Third stage patients are
capable of harm.
All three stages need to come into play
when diagnosing the patient. This could
take years.
|
jcottle11
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 31 May 2008 Posts: 6
To Cutwolf Posted: 05-31-08 16:39pm
Okay, acute changes in cognition in the
elderly are most often attributed to a
urinary tract infection. By contrast,
Alzheimer's disease and similar
neurodegenerative diseases that affect
cognition have an insidious onset and it
takes several years for symptoms to become
pronounced.
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