Wednesday, January 11, 2012
well, my sister vicky and i accompanied our mom to her doctor's appointment yesterday. we asked about the cat scan that she had done on dec. 6 and if anything showed up on it. unfortunately, the scan showed some minor strokes! our dad had a stroke some many years ago, but it was noticeable. anyway, she had another cat scan done today to find out if she has had any more strokes since the other ones, and thankfully she hasn't. what a relief to finally get some good news.
vicky has been reading a book by a neurologist on how to replenish or reverse what your brain has lost in regards to your memory. you basically need to nourish the brain with vitamins and nutrients, keeping aware that some of the prescription meds that you may take can adversely affect certain things in your brain. for example, did you know that taking certain high blood pressure meds can diminish the amount of cOq-10 enzyme that is needed for brain health? that is why if you do take such meds, you need to supplement them daily by taking coq-10. so i will be going to costco today with my little sister, sally, to buy the necessary vitamins to help restore our mom's brain health, and hopefully it will help.
i have decided for the purpose of this blog to refer to my mom as "hiwahiwa", which is the hawaiian word for beloved. and any strange word you may come across from time to time will be a hawaiian word followed by it's english translation in parentheses.
it's time to hele (go) out the door, so thanks for stopping by. aloha!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
my beloved mom
time to take the cob webs off of this decrepit blog!! *blowing off a mess of webs* this topic evolves around my beloved mom. i have never called her that before, but it's true. she is my beloved mom. she has been there since birth, and has shown me nothing but love (amidst the chiding for the typical childhood misbehavior--sista's you've know what we've done!).
this past year has brought about many health changes for my mom. late spring my mom was diagnosed with diabetes. it was a great shock to her (though her mom and other family members has or had the disease). her doctor promptly put her on medication, a medication that is used in obese patients to help them loose weight. well, guess what happened to her. she lost weight. at 4'8" she went down from an already slim 105 lbs to 80 lbs! now that was an alarming shock! a couple of months later i took her to see the doctor and asked that he take her off the diabetic medication because i told he she has been stringent in cutting out the bad foods in her life. thankfully he did not oppose us in this.
however, since being on that medication, the family has noticed significant changes in her mental health. her memory has declined noticeably.. realistically her memory was never the greatest. she always said she was absent-minded. she couldn't remember where she would put stuff and things like that. but now she gets lost at the mall, asks repeatedly what day it is, and can't remember who some people are (when i describe them to her). the question to be asked then is, does she have the incipient symptoms of alzhiemer's or dementia?
so then we went back to the doctor and described her memory issues, and he put her on donepezil, a medication to help her with her memory. but get this, she has been experiencing some possible side effects like paranoia! she had it in her head that I wanted to kick her and my dad out of their house! all because i wanted her to clean up some of the rooms in the house, she translated it as "pack up your things and leave the house". she also heard dad and i conspiring to have her die not in her house, but in a nursing home. one night she even wanted to take all of her prescription pills so she can go outside and die. we have never said or wished any of these things on her. i had to reassure her that we would prefer, when the time comes, for her to die at home amongst her family and familiar surroundings.
all of this has been very hard to ingest. and amidst her crying, admitting how scared she is, i just tell her how much we love her and that we know that she is scared. i reassure her that w,e as a family, will handle this one day at a time.
i never thought i would see my mom like this, even though my great grandmother had alzhiemer's (she has since passed). but i have come to terms with it. my mom may have been through some traumatic times, like being abandoned by her parents at a young age to be raised by her grandmother, for example, but she has lived a good life. always surrounded by people she loved and whom loved her back. this thought is what allows me to be ok with her passing when it comes. i will miss her like crazy, but know she will someday be reunited with her parents, grandparents and other family. i even prayed to a god last night, and as most of you know, i am an atheist. i prayed to something out there (and i hope there is) to take care of her, and others like her, in her elderly age.
mom, i love you.
this past year has brought about many health changes for my mom. late spring my mom was diagnosed with diabetes. it was a great shock to her (though her mom and other family members has or had the disease). her doctor promptly put her on medication, a medication that is used in obese patients to help them loose weight. well, guess what happened to her. she lost weight. at 4'8" she went down from an already slim 105 lbs to 80 lbs! now that was an alarming shock! a couple of months later i took her to see the doctor and asked that he take her off the diabetic medication because i told he she has been stringent in cutting out the bad foods in her life. thankfully he did not oppose us in this.
however, since being on that medication, the family has noticed significant changes in her mental health. her memory has declined noticeably.. realistically her memory was never the greatest. she always said she was absent-minded. she couldn't remember where she would put stuff and things like that. but now she gets lost at the mall, asks repeatedly what day it is, and can't remember who some people are (when i describe them to her). the question to be asked then is, does she have the incipient symptoms of alzhiemer's or dementia?
so then we went back to the doctor and described her memory issues, and he put her on donepezil, a medication to help her with her memory. but get this, she has been experiencing some possible side effects like paranoia! she had it in her head that I wanted to kick her and my dad out of their house! all because i wanted her to clean up some of the rooms in the house, she translated it as "pack up your things and leave the house". she also heard dad and i conspiring to have her die not in her house, but in a nursing home. one night she even wanted to take all of her prescription pills so she can go outside and die. we have never said or wished any of these things on her. i had to reassure her that we would prefer, when the time comes, for her to die at home amongst her family and familiar surroundings.
all of this has been very hard to ingest. and amidst her crying, admitting how scared she is, i just tell her how much we love her and that we know that she is scared. i reassure her that w,e as a family, will handle this one day at a time.
i never thought i would see my mom like this, even though my great grandmother had alzhiemer's (she has since passed). but i have come to terms with it. my mom may have been through some traumatic times, like being abandoned by her parents at a young age to be raised by her grandmother, for example, but she has lived a good life. always surrounded by people she loved and whom loved her back. this thought is what allows me to be ok with her passing when it comes. i will miss her like crazy, but know she will someday be reunited with her parents, grandparents and other family. i even prayed to a god last night, and as most of you know, i am an atheist. i prayed to something out there (and i hope there is) to take care of her, and others like her, in her elderly age.
mom, i love you.
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