Mom & Me Four Archive

    This was Mom's first utterance after we finished The Apes quintilogy + documentary.
    I admitted that I couldn't answer this question and I couldn't remember if this thread had been tied anywhere in the series.
    To which Mom responded, "Well, I guess we'll just have to go through the movies again and look for the answer."
    Frankly, I'm hoping she forgets this for awhile. I'm aped every which way and need to be loose. Immediately after she retired, soon after the final movie ended, I tucked the series away in one of the back rows of our collection. I'm hoping the memory gods will leave our house alone for awhile in regards to these movies. I'm sure we'll watch it again but I'm hoping it isn't mentioned for a couple of months.
    Mom had her beloved Costco chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. I couldn't stomach the thought. It's very easy for me to get tired of it. It's soooo salty, the crust is way too sweet, there aren't enough vegetables and the chicken has only the texture of chicken, not the taste. I suppose this is why Mom loves it.
    No bowel movements today, which was a surprise since she's been having dailies for three days in a row, I think.
    I'm doing well, despite the movies and the chicken pot pie, though (I had something else entirely, tonight, which doesn't happen often, anymore, since she's been eating vegetables). Sometime early this evening I realized I was back in The Zone, again, regarding caregiving: That "peaceful, easy feeling and I know [I] won't let [me or you] down, 'cause I'm already standing on the ground." [Thank you to The Eagles] That's how I feel, I realized, grounded. Capable. Sure of myself and sure of our life, regardless of what happens.
    Earlier today, earlier than the above realization, I did something I do occasionally: I visited the most popular NPH site, then searched out a few other references. I do this in order to reevaluate my criteria for having determined that she isn't in need of all the tests nor the shunt treatment for NPH. Today it occurred to me that, considering:

1. All the neurologists who've worked her over in the past three years, most notably the workout she was given in early August of last year which included an MRI and yet another Head CT;
2. The age (all young) of her neurologists and doctors during that episode;
3. And her doctors' eagerness to diagnose something that would allow them to get their hands on some of the wildly misappropriated (in terms of procedures, favoring the expensive and last ditch over the cheap and preventative) Medicare money and have some testing fun in the process;

she isn't suffering from NPH but from vascular dementia. Despite the similarities between the two, we know for certain she's mini-stroked and her demential pattern isn't following that of the typical NPH afflicted.
    I do this with all her conditions every couple of months just to keep myself up-to-date on possible treatments and play the devil's advocate in case newer research presents itself that might show a way to alleviate some of her symptoms and allow her a bit more comfort as she continues.
    Curiously, this evening, we caught a program on PBS Nova, Deadly Ascent, which discussed hypoxia as it applies to high altitude mountain climbing. The thing is, hypoxia is hypoxia is hypoxia and certainly my mother breathes easier at lower altitudes. My mother doesn't suffer from hypoxia because of altitude sickness, but she suffers from it, nonetheless, if conditions are right. The program filled in my slight knowledge about what hypoxia (specifically HAPE) can do and how to treat for the possibilities and the realities. Funny where one gets information about physical problems! Funny, also, considering how many questions I ask of doctors, that no medical professional has ever explained all this to me!
    I'm suddenly tired...
    ...later.