Memories

Yesterday we had an appointment at The Memory Clinic. When The Graminator was in the hospital, someone referred her to the clinic. When they called us to schedule an appointment, I thought it was a big waste of time. We already knew she had Alzheimer's and she was on Aricept, so really, what more could we do?

I made the appointment anyway because the woman on the phone said it was very difficult to get an appointment with Dr. Singh and I figured I could always cancel it. Boy, am I glad we didn't. Can I just say that while The Graminator has a yucky HMO insurance (which both my mother and I have as well, because it's cheap and I'm an unemployed writer and my mom works at a day old bread store so what are you going to do?) we have found her doctors to be EXCEPTIONAL. I love her primary care doctor, Dr. Johnson, who looks like a middle aged housewife and nothing like a doctor and I found Dr. Singh to be totally cool.

First they gave The Graminator these somewhat bogus memory tests, some of which she couldn't do, not because of her memory but because of her vision issues. The tests really made my mom mad but we really weren't supposed to talk. Finally when the nurse was asking The Graminator what a specific item was (it was his watch) my mom got upset. The Graminator had never had a digital watch before so she had no idea what it was. My mom said "If I wanted to know what time it is, what would I look at?", to which The Graminator replied "Not that ugly thing!" (Yes, it was a big, ugly black plastic digital watch. My grandma is used to petite gold analog watches.)

Then Dr. Singh came in. We had looked him up on the Internet and it turns out that he is the head of Geriatrics for Southwest Medical. He is Sikh, I think, with the turban and beard and everything. He asked The Graminator some more questions but they were more interesting and relevant. He was totally funny too. When he noticed that The Graminator seemed hard of hearing he asked how long that had been going on. When we told him it was recent, since the fall, he looked in her ears. When he put the light thing in her left ear he asked my mom if she could see the light coming out the other side. Too funny. It turns out The Graminator has some wax in her ears which is affecting her hearing. Everyone else just put it down to old age. He said we could take her to an audiologist too but warned that hearing aids could run several thousand dollars. We'll see how the ear drops he prescribed do.

He also told us to have her vision checked again. He mentioned that while memory loss does happen as we age, we can slow it down and part of that is stimulating the brain, visually, audibly, etc. He prescribed an additional Alzheimer's drug, Namenda, to slow the progression of her memory loss. He said we can't get memory back (so we are stuck with her having little short term memory) but that we can keep her where she is and keep her quality of life intact. Without intervention, he said not only would she forget who and where she was, but even forget how to eat, etc. But he gave us lots of hope for that never happening. Today I'm going to buy her some flash cards and toys to play with to stimulate her brain (see, it really is like raising a two year old.)

He told us to stop the cholesterol medicine she is on (at 87 with no history of stroke or heart attack he said it was unnecessary) and to get her on a osteoporosis medication. He also gave us a lot of information on Reclast, the injectible osteoporosis drug and recommended it for my mom too, who has been having trouble with the other drugs like Boniva and Actonel and now is even having trouble taking simple calcium (it's causing terrible stomach issues.) He was AWESOME, really helpful and communicative and fun. He also said that my Grandma was blessed to have us, and that taking care of her at home was the best possible thing we could ever do. It make me very glad that I can be there for her, and very sad that so many seniors don't have that support system. I can't tell you how many people have commented on us and our care for her. It seems strange to me that we would be the exception and not the rule.

Did you know that life expectancy now is 78, but if you live to be 85 that your life expectancy actually goes UP to 91 or 92? And if you make it to 100, your life expectancy goes up again, to 102? But you got to take care of your brain, people. As you age, your brain loses important chemicals which causes memory loss. At the next appointment I am going to ask Dr. Singh what my mom and I can do to help our brains too, even when we are younger. I'll let you know. But right now, stimulate your brain with television and books and art and color and simple math. I believe that part who I am comes from my memories and experiences and I don't ever want to lose that!