No More Eggplant, PLEASE!

I've noticed that when my mom eats something that doesn't agree with her Lewy Bodies, we have a crazy day.  A day filled with confusion, moving walls, wild animals, extra cats and a very soft spoken voice that is usually inaudible.

Several posts ago I had written about the Deadly Nightshade Family of plants and how their's something in it that aggravates dementia.  You can read the post here if you are interested:  My Post about Deadly Nightshade plants and dementia episodes

On Sunday, I made Eggplant rolls, gluten free.  I left the skin on the eggplant because when the slices are grilled, it helps to hold the eggplant piece together.  Everyone enjoyed this dish, especially my mother and mother-in-law.

Sunday night, my mom had disturbed sleep.  She was up at 10p walking around in her sleep and again at 4 and 6 am.  She was pointing to the pillows on her bed, telling me that it was the man... damn, the man was back too.

Not on much sleep, I needed to make the best of this day.  I know from experience that I need to be calm and upbeat.  Genuinely upbeat or my mom would see right through my facade. 

How'd I do?

Well, I failed miserably.

I had an appointment with my doctor because I'm not feeling well.  Something isn't right.  It's better to have this sort of thing checked out, so many times I read about the care giver dying before the patient.  Personally, it's not a fate I chose to embrace.

My appointment was for 1:10pm.  The doctor squeezed me in to her schedule. I was anxious for days, waitng to see her.

I made the moms and myself a new dish that I had invented, warmed asparagus salad with pine nuts.  It came out really great.  Delicious. 

My mom, she was a bit out of sorts.  Definitely not a good day for her.

Leaving an hour and 20 minutes to arrive at my appointment, off my mom and I go to my doctor with a 45 minute drive ahead of us.

We're moving right along, heading for the highway... we come to the overpass and I see TRAFFIC.  Dead stopped traffic at 12 in the afternoon!  My mom started saying, "Gee, all these people are going out to lunch at the same time, how crazy!"  I laughed.

I began to sweat because the clock was ticking.  Not being a very good natural geographer, even if I did get my under grad degree in Geography, I turned to the navigation system in my truck.  I instruct it to find us an alternate route. 

The truck had us follow the highway, on back roads, twisting and turning through residential neighborhoods, we were heading up and down streets that I never knew existed.

My mom was enjoying the ride, it was an incredible 70 degree November day in New England... beautiful.

Oh, I am definitely going to be late for my appointment.  I reach in my purse for my cellphone and much to my chagrin, the damn phone battery is dead.  I can't call and let the office know that I was stuck in traffic.  Damn!

20 minutes late we arrive... just as the receptionist is putting me in as a no-show.  I said to her, "I'm here.  I showed.  I was stuck in a really bad traffic jam.  I had to travel a long distance to get here."

The receptionist was not very good at her job. 

I started to cry when she told me to reschedule and I couldn't see the doctor until sometime in December!  December?  Are you kidding me?  I swear to God we have the worst healthcare system in the world when I have to wait so long to see a doctor.

The woman tells me to have a seat and she'd check to see if the doctor could see me today.  I waited 30 minutes.  Occassionally getting called to the receptionist window.  I totally broke down bawling my eyes out in the doctors office when the receptionist said to me, "Oh, I don't know what to do!"  I said, "Neither do I, isn't that what you get paid for, to KNOW what to do?"

Of course my crying was making her nervous.  Some guy was in the waiting room, obviously waiting for his girlfriend or wife.  I didn't care.  The Boo Hoo train had left the station and those tears were coming out.

My poor little demented mother, she sat quietly, looking around at the ceiling and then at me.  Wanting to talk to me but not knowing what to say.  I knew my crying was upsetting her.  She had no idea until yesterday that I have been worried about my own health.  Well, she knows now.

I cried all the way home and more when I got home.

I had no doctors appointment lined up.  The receptionist couldn't handle it.  After making me wait for 30 minutes in the waiting room, I got up and left.  I asked them to call with an appointment when they knew how to schedule one for me.

I did finally calm down after a cup of Nettle tea and my own personal time out.  My mom totally understood this and was fine watching Dr. Oz while she drank a cup of ginger tea.

Calling the doctor's office I was able to reach a nurse who knew what was going on.  I am seeing the doctor on Friday, hopefully if she doesn't have an emergency to rush off to. 

In any event, I'm sure I'll be OK and my mom too... as long as I don't give her any eggplant.

Today is a GREAT DAY!

Last night we all got a great nights sleep. It was awesome sleeping with the windows open a little and having the fresh night air fill the room.

5am the cat came into our room and took a leap to run up my body. Savita is my little alarm to let me know that my mom is out of bed or having a problem. Every time, like a little alarm that was triggered, the cat comes to get me.

I went downstairs and my mom had woken up but wasn't out of bed. I asked her how she was this morning and she said "Great! I feel so good today. I love sleeping in the morning." I took the opportunity and told her to roll over and sleep on her left side. Years ago I had learned from a nurse that if you lay on your left side, it gets your intestines in the right position so that it's easier for your stool to move. She needs a good movement today.

Mom rolled over on her left side with her head nestled in her pillow and a smile on her face. I rubbed her head like she used to do to me and her mother used to do to her. She drifted off to sleep in seconds.

I went back to sleep too. It really felt good to sleep and feel peace.

8am, Cat alarm... Savita made her flying leap on the bed and landed on my legs. Last vet visit she weighed 11.5 lbs. It hurst when she lands. No claws are out, it's just sheer body weight. She's learned the higher she jumps the harder she lands. Of course she doesn't try this trick on Brian, just me. It's almost like she's getting back at me for all those times I rub her belly with my hand, she hates hands.

I got up as I remembered to say the phrase outloud, "Today will be a GREAT DAY!" I declared a great day for myself today. Saying this phrase outloud works as you get out of bed in the morning. Enthusiasm and strong emotion puts power behind the words. I always have a great day when I start it with a grand declaration as this phrase embodies.

My mom was half awake. The squeeky stairs woke her as I walked down them. She felt really good. Her blood pressure was 143/63 - a very good reading for her. Her blood sugar was 104, higher than usual but it's probably because she forgot to brush her teeth last night.

I had coffee with my mom this morning as she took her little dish of supplements. She was excited to tell me that she remembered a dream. That the dream woke her but she realized that it was just a dream.

She told me that she dreampt that the UPS guy came with a package. She described other sounds and things that were going on. At one point she heard someone shoveling snow... then she said to herself, "snow? this must be a dream." She did eventually get up and see if there was a package at the door and snow on the ground. When there wasn't a package or snow, she was became pleased with herself for being able to distinguish between a dream and reality. She tucked herself back in and went back to sleep.

Brian and I are noticing a pattern with my mom. She has 1 good day after a solid night sleep and then the next 2 nights she sleeps less and wakes up frightened by hallucinations. I read that eggplant and tomatoes can cause a problem for folks with Lewy Bodies. The days my mom eats eggplant or tomatoes, she doesn't seem to sleep. No more eggplant and tomatoes for my mom, not until I can see if these foods are the triggers for her sleepless nights.

I can't find the article that I had read that discusses the deadly nightshade family of plants and how the active ingredient in the plants fruit is bad for people with Lewy Bodies. However, I did find a Psychiatrist MD with Lewy Bodies writing about the disease from a personal perspective. I am thrilled to have found his blog.

Mom is a light sleeper. She lives on the basement level of our home currently, where you can hear all the house sounds. Today, we are moving her upstairs and giving her our Master Suite. It's more remenesce of her bedroom set up in the house I had owned in Groveland.

Brian and I will take over the downstairs. We will have the entire floor to ourselves. I won't need to walk by my mother in law every time I want to go outside or out for a drive. Maybe it's my own paranoia but I always felt like I was under her watchful eye.

I love my mother in law, we've become closer because of my mom's condition. I was frightened of my ML for so long, she scared the snot out of me. She has a mean streak that you don't want to cross. I crossed her when I married her son and moved my mom, our cat and myself into Brian's house. I got the impression that she viewed me as a jesabell or something.

Remembering my dad's wise words, "Susie, wait a minute, things will change", I waited. I was as patient as I could be. I changed my mind. I changed how I approached her. I replaced my fear with love.

I'm a pretty good cook, although my husband calls me a gourmet chef. I began cooking my heart out, making everything fresh and from scratch. My mother in law never tasted food so good and just last night she told me that my cooking is better than the finest restaurant. She's so sweet, especially when she likes you.

My Mother in Law watches me still, all day. Only now she watches me care for my mom. She sees that I'm doing everything possible to help our little Jo, Rachel's only friend. Rachel loves my mom and was upset when she heard the news about my mom's dementia. Rachel wants my mom to continue living here with us, she would worry about her in a home, like I would.

Moving my mom upstairs, Rachel and Jo will share the main floor of the house. We feel it will help my mom a lot and Rachel too. They both need to socialize and neither of them are very social, they never have been.

Side note: If you are young, make sure you keep friends and socialize, they will be very important people when you are all old together. Maybe one of them will help you find your lost mind when you need it the most.

Anyway, today IS a GREAT DAY. No more tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes and peppers for my mom.