Bringing Back The Good Days

(This blog post has been modified since first publishing.)

Ma having Acupuncture

Last Wednesday, my mom visited our Naturopath Doctor for a follow-up visit.  Mom isn't on any pharmaceutical drugs to treat her Lewy Bodies Dementia, she takes natural remedies that Dr. Barton recommends.  Our goal has always been to help bring more good days than not so good ones.  We've had lots of success over the last 2 plus years.

The last month my mom has shown a dramatic decline in her cognition and ability to communicate.  Her mood has been a bit anxious; the word NO has become her favorite sound.  Past experience dictates that NO is her only way to control some thread of her life.  Even if the answer should logically be YES, she will say NO... frustrating for all Care Givers that provide care.

Acupuncture helped her find her voice, restoring her ability to speak sentences using the right words to express herself.  Communicating with ease always seems to reduce my mom's anxiety, replacing unwelcome behavior with singing and dancing.

A couple of months ago, my mom wanted to stop Acupuncture.  Treatments were 2 times a week for several months; her cognition improved.  Mom wanted to stop Acupuncture, no reason given, she just didn't want to do it anymore.

Gradually, without Acupuncture, she lost her ability to communicate and incontinent episodes became the norm; poop and pee often greeting me in the twilight of the night.

Tomorrow, she will have Acupuncture again, we are hopeful that it will improve mom's word finding as it has in the past.

During our visit last week with our ND, he recommended Lithium Orotate supplement to help with her cognition and mood.  Lithium Orotate is known to increase gray matter in the brain, often given to Alzheimer's sufferers.  Dr. Barton suggested that we give a small dosage of Lithium Orotate a try, so we did.

Lithium Orotate is an easily absorbed version of Lithium, unlike the pharmaceutical version that needs to be taken in large amounts and require blood tests to monitor toxicity.  Naturally occurring in nature, it's a mineral that is often used to help treat manic mental disorders including Alzheimer's.

Mom's had 4 doses of Lithium Orotate; yesterday was her best day in a long time.  She was dancing and singing to music all day.  I was downstairs and I heard stomp, stomp, stomp... she was dancing up a storm, smiling and talking to all of her friends, especially my dead brother, Ed.

I'm hopeful for another good day today.                                          

Mom slept through the night last night and didn't even remove her Depends!  She woke up this morning to use the toilet and went back to sleep for a short nap.  Upon awakening the 2nd time, she took her supplements without much hesitation; lately she has forgotten how to swallow capsules.

Mom's dancing again, day two.  Shockingly, she dressed herself appropriately today!  Picking out her outfit that matched and put her pants and shirt on without any help.  What a breakthrough for her, she feels like she can and she IS!

I am hopeful that I will be able to get through the wait time involved with placing her in a good quality home that we can afford.  With the help of Dr. Barton, we are bringing back the good days once more; I'm grateful.