On the Move

Acupuncture worked very well for my mom.

She was a total basket case before her session; hallucinations, unable to stand and words that made no sense.

Mom was not able to get on the table in the doctor's office.  She wouldn't lay down.  Her treatment was done while she sat in her wheelchair.  I held her hands to help keep her from removing the pins.

Mom was calmer.  On the drive back to the home, she was tapping her feet and singing along to the music that filled the car.

Mom allowed me to wheel her back inside the nursing home.  She lifted her feet, she remembered how!

Mom was able to walk.  She walked up and down the hall with me.

She slept through the night.  Alleluia!!!!

Yesterday, she was talking and walking.  She was on the move.  She slept through the night again.

Acupuncture seems to have reset her internal clock, thank God!

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.

Acupuncture ... 5 Treatments and Cognition Is Improving

My mom has what we believe is Lewy Bodies Dementia, she has all the symptoms but has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Mom doesn't forget much, her trouble is word finding and hallucinations, vivid hallucinations that would make anyone eaves dropping believe that we had parties going on in our backyard every day, all day... or at times they would hear about elephants and wild horses, some appear in the trees.

Acupuncture is helping her significantly, she is able to communicate better and tell me what is on her mind.  She is finding her words which is keeping her from becoming agitated.  Her blood pressure is lower when she is able to find the right words to express herself.  The length of time that her cognition is improved after acupuncture is increasing.  A true blessing.

Yesterday, my mom was laying on the table in Dr. Barton's office.  He was putting the needles into the acupuncture points, starting at her feet and working his way up to her head.  He had just finished putting the needles in her wrists when she said to Dr. Barton, "Did you put the needles in my head yet?"

Dr. Barton was pleasantly surprised, he answered her, "Not yet, they're next."  He turned at the same time and mouthed the word, "WOW" with a big smile, this is the first time that he's seen improvement.  He had been a little bit of a skeptic, but I believe in acupuncture, I see the amazing results.  Results that Dr. Barton had not been witnessing because the initial treatments only lasted a few days and wore off by the time I brought my mom for her next appointment.  Dr. Barton wasn't a full believer in this study that claimed to improve cognition; he began to wonder if we could be wasting our money.

I asked him to hang in there with us and convinced him to follow the study; 2 treatments a week for 3 months.  The study results are impressive, averaging 43% cognition improvement in the small group of 38 people who participated in the study.

Acupuncture for dementia, it's working for my mother.  After 5 treatments, she is finding her words more easily.  Granted, she's telling me about her hallucinations, but at least she can tell me about her "visitors."  They entertain her.  Mom listens to music and dances with them on the patio; she is happy.  The music becomes part of her world and she believes everyone is privy to hearing the music that she hears.

This morning, she was a little confused with what day it is.  She woke up thinking that it is Friday and she needed to go and see Dr. Barton.  She woke up at 5am.  By the time I had heard her up and around, she was already fully dressed telling me that she was late and needed to get to her appointment with Dr. Barton.  Putting the morning news on TV helped me to convince her that it's Saturday, our food shopping day.

Mom is happy this morning.  She's listening to Pandora radio, Jason Mraz type music; she is singing out loud, out of tune and dancing in her seat while she is holding her worry beads.

In conclusion... Acupuncture, 5 Treatments and Cognition is Improving in my mom.  Acupuncture is providing my mom more good days which makes care giving so much easier.  I recommend finding a licensed acupuncturist to help a loved one with dementia, it's giving us a little more quality time with our mom.  I am grateful.

Look Who's Still Talking!

It's now been 4 days since my mom had Acupuncture to help her with her dementia.  She is still able to talk and tell us what she's thinking, which is a great help with keeping peace in our home.

The 4th of July was a pleasant day that was spent at home.  My mom, she watched two movies, back to back!  She hasn't been able to watch a 30 minute TV show let alone one movie, she watched two!

We went in the pool, we had grilled food and I made potato salad using herbs from my garden to spice it up.  I weeded one of my flower beds and planted the mark down flowers that I had bought during my first day of respite last week.  The night was topped off with a neighbors illegal fireworks display exploding in a rainbow of colors over our house.

My mom, she was able to talk and tell us what she was thinking all weekend.  She was happy.  She watered my flowers and then wrote her name with the garden house, "Look at that." As she pointed to the garden hose on the ground, "What do you see?"  She asked.  

I replied, "Oh, very good, you made a 3 leaf clover."

"NO!  My mom said in a shot, "I wrote my name... Jo!"

We laughed.  I took a picture.

On the 4th of July, my mom and me went in the pool together when the sun was finally behind the trees, leaving the pool in a welcomed shadow.  It was like the old days when we would swim in the pool and talk about different topics.  I was happy.  My mom was laughing.  I was laughing.  We were living in peace with out any crazy Lewy showing up to spoil the fun.

Marty stopped over for a visit Monday morning, bright and early.  My mom was happy to see Marty, especially because she was able to talk to him again, something that she wanted to do but couldn't, she couldn't find her words.  Mom was following the conversations that we were having and laughing at the appropriate times.  Ma was back with a renewed lease on her life; laughter and smiles prevail.

I did notice that after my mom had a sandwich for lunch yesterday, she was more confused than she had been before she had eaten a sandwich.  She was having trouble finding her words, they were not coming as effortlessly as they were after her Acupuncture treatment.  Potato salad that she ate on the 4th of July, it too gave her a bout of confusion, just like the spelt wheat bread sandwich.  However, the homeopathic remedy Hyosyamos in a little water dialed her back to her new "normal."

The Acupuncture is still working but I am noticing that my mom isn't as sharp as she was on Friday night and Saturday.   The study that I had read about Acupuncture and dementia had given Acupuncture treatments twice a week for 3 months to the test group of 38 participants.  At the end of three months, the average improvement had increased by 43%.

My mom, she will have Acupuncture twice a week on Monday and Friday.  Next week, we'll see Dr. Barton again when he returns from vacation.  Acupuncture is giving my mom her life back, she is able to communicate and be more present in life.  If you have a loved one with what you think is Lewy Bodies Dementia, give Acupuncture a try.  It doesn't hurt and the results are miraculous.

Because of Acupuncture, my family is gathering on our mom's birthday.  All of us are getting together at my sister's camp, something that I never thought would happen until Ma died.  Ma is excited, mostly because she will get to see her great grandson, our cute little boy, the world traveler.

Today is Tuesday, Visiting Angel day.  Brian is on vacation.  We are in the middle of a heatwave.  The pool water is about 76 F, refreshing on days when the mercury reaches 100 F with high humidity.