Update On My Mom

My mom has a UTI and a kidney infection.  She is on antibiotics.  I'm hopeful that once the infection is gone she won't hallucinate as much.  I'm also expecting improvement in her cognition.

I've been reading about urinary tract infections in Lewy Bodies Dementia patients for over a year.  I read the stories, the nightmares that other Care Givers had experienced.   LBD patients who have an infection will hallucinate a lot.  My mom began talking to the hallucinations and would get mad at me for interrupting.  I couldn't win.

I cried... I cried A LOT.  I was ready to call 911 and have the ambulance take my mom to a psych ward of a hospital for an evaluation.  I was giving up on my mom, I was mentally ready to send her to a nursing home.

Fishing for an easy solution I remembered the advice of the LBD Yahoo Community, they recommend tests to check for infection, mostly a urinary tract infection.  This is very common in LBD patients and is often the cause of wild behavior.

I called my mom's kidney doctor and set up the tests.  They came back positive, she does have an infection in her kidneys and her urinary tract.  I think she's had it for awhile.  In hindsight, my mom has had a backache for a long time.  Maybe I could have avoided all the insanity of chasing her hallucinations if we had her checked out sooner?

My mom's ND was the one who told me that my mom's kidney trouble could be causing her elevated blood pressure.  He prescribed Pellitory, an herbal tincture that he made for her in his office.  She takes it 2 x's a day.

2 weeks ago my mom's BUN was 53, very high.  2 weeks after taking Pellitory, her BUN is 28.  Her Creatine numbers are lower too, 1.2 instead of where it had been at 1.5.

Her hallucinations are not as wild.  Her blood pressure is coming down and her spirits are good.

Today things are better than they've been in a very long time.  I'm hopeful.  I'm encouraged.

I read an article today about a man who began taking Coconut Oil and his cognition changed for the better.  There's a test that is given, the patient needs to draw a clock from memory.  It's very difficult for those folks with Alzheimer's and the different stages of Alzheimer's is determined by how well the individual draws the clock.  Here's the article by Dr. Mary Newport had written about coconut oil:  What if there was a cure for Alzheimer's Disease and no one knew? 

I found a new product at Whole Foods, ice cream made with Coconut Milk.  I've been giving it to my mom for the last few days.  Could the coconut milk be helping her cognition and finding words... big words?

I don't know yet...

I did read that the ketones in Coconut oil helps the body absorb nutrients, including amino acids... the RLA and L-Aceytl Carnitine are amino acids.

I bought coconuts today and had my mom drink the milk from the coconut.

So, with the clearing of the infection and the amino acids and ketone addition to her diet... we may be able to cure my mom of her dementia.  I believe in miracles.  I will not quit on her.  We never fail until we quit, so I will pick myself up, dust myself off and march forward toward success.