Jeff was pretty dopey when I got to the geri-psych floor today. He was sitting in one of the geri-chairs (the recliners on wheels,) with a velcro belt, which was surprising to me as he is mobile. Turned out he'd had a prolonged episode of muscle uncontrollability this morning, making him very much a hazard to himself, and he'd been given a shot of muscle relaxant.
He was able to get up and go sit in his room with me (with me hanging on to an arm,) but alertness was not maximal today, and lunch was an entirely one person (me feeding him) operation.
The psychiatrist had been there this morning and seen the episode, so I'm grateful for that. (and that she has responded to my emails, so I know I have a way of communicating with her since we never cross paths.)
So anyway, this was apparently a good bit more extreme than the intermittent twitches and jerks I seen since he's been on Seroquel.
I can't really add anything to your thread but am taking this opportunity to thank you for your description of the legal issues regarding Jeff's placement that you posted on another thread.
And thank you so much for your support on my other threads, especially since my H has been hospitalized,
I don't mean to go ot but since those other posts are from a few days ago, I just want to thank you here and send you my best wishes and all the support that can come over this virtual communication network.
Thank you Joan for the chance to be in touch with these amazing people!
emily--yes, good that you're "talking" with the psychiatrist. I know this is premature, but I wanted to tell you that the social workers will get somewhat involved when Lakeview is ready to discharge Jeff. It won't be completely on you. They were helpful to me when, at the 11th hour, the psychiatrist at the ALF I had initially selected seemed reluctant to take Steve. They got the discharge extended, which gave me a day to find another ALF. Just a FYI.
Yes, I did get that reassurance from the Lakeside social worker--that she would be in communication with the ALF contacts. The ALF nurse, in face, said that she and another staff member will most likely visit the Lakeside unit when Jeff is on the verge of being discharged. My back-up thought (thought only so far, as I have not contacted them,) is a Somerford Place which is a facility strictly for demential care. At Sunrise, the current place, he is in the locked dementia unit, which is pretty good-sized, but the larger facility is both standard assisted living and independent living. Still, in addition to the fact that it's a pleasant, well-run place, it's 3 minutes from my house, whereas Somerford is about 25-25. Not that that's a huge deal in the scheme of things.
Yes, and I had never anticipated a need for daily visits, but periodontal problems flared up and now I do go most days. I much prefer a 10-15 minute drive daily, where there's a Trader Joe's a block away, to a 25-30 minute daily drive to a neighborhood that doesn't have much else of interest.
Well, if it comes to that, the Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, and assorted other services which I DO patronize are in the general direction of the Somerford Place. So I could make other uses of the drive. But I don't have a reason to assume plan A won't work out yet. I do, however, anticipate a long road ahead at the geri-psych hospital. Except for a couple of better days, Jeff is just non-functional on the Seroquel. I suppose there are not a lot of tricks in the bag to pull out if the atypical antipsychotics can't regulate him, while leaving him some ability to function. So if vegetative turns out to be the only choice there is a decent nursing home nearby. I'm not saying this to be gloomy, just realistic.
Has the doctor indicated that Jeff will be more challenging to successfully medicate because of the variant of AD he has? Steve seems to be "textbook", so I know there was a specific order of preference in which they tried the drugs.
I have not heard any such statement, and I doubt if that's the case since my sense is that once the brain damage reaches the areas that cause people to become uncharacteristically aggressive or paranoid, you're probably dealing with the same thing, regardless of the direction it crept in from. But, you know, it'll "only" be 4 weeks on Tuesday, so there's no point assuming the worst yet. I'll admit, I am not good at waiting games.