Mom

[Carebear]

Lighthouse,

It's encouraging to hear that the procedure on your mom's vertebra went well.  I hope the outcome is beneficial.

My dad had osteoporosis (as have I), and he suffered terribly from compression fractures in the spine.

There is a newer bone building drug available that is injectable, and it works differently than Fosamax, for example.  A friend of mine has just started using it but I'm sorry that I don't know the name.  He is seeing an Osteoporosis Specialist, which is a specialty I had never heard of before.

I'm glad that you find support from this board.  You are definitely not alone.  Continue to take care of yourself. 

[A66eyroad]

My mother has osteoporosis and was on Boniva for something like 10 years, maybe more. Her doctor just kept refilling it and refilling it.

One sunny afternoon she was outside playing with her dog who started getting frisky, running back and forth. He bounced up against her leg. His weight bent her knee back and shattered it to bits.

Lots of pain and surgeries and rehab later, her *new* orthopedic doctor told her that people aren't supposed to be on that medicine for any length of time, like no more than a year. He said that what it does is keeps the osteoclasts, cells that destroy dead bone, from doing their job, so that all the old bone is still there. He said the old bone has to be recaptured by the body at some point in order for at least SOME healthy bone to be deposited. Her bones, he said, were like jello with an m&m candy shell.

Another reason we have to be vigilant when it comes to our medicines.

[Katybarstool]

Hi Lighthouse

I'm so pleased that your mum's surgery was such a a success. How's she doing now?And how are you?

Kathyx

[lighthouse33]

Lighthouse,

It's encouraging to hear that the procedure on your mom's vertebra went well.  I hope the outcome is beneficial.

My dad had osteoporosis (as have I), and he suffered terribly from compression fractures in the spine.

There is a newer bone building drug available that is injectable, and it works differently than Fosamax, for example.  A friend of mine has just started using it but I'm sorry that I don't know the name.  He is seeing an Osteoporosis Specialist, which is a specialty I had never heard of before.

I'm glad that you find support from this board.  You are definitely not alone.  Continue to take care of yourself. 

Carebear:

I researched on the Internet and it sounds like your friend is taking Forteo, a parathryroid hormone.  It is an injection once a day for 1 1/2 to 2 years. 

I ordered some strontium to take as it's a bone maker.  Will see how it works.

[lighthouse33]

Hi Lighthouse

I'm so pleased that your mum's surgery was such a a success. How's she doing now?And how are you?

Kathyx

Mom is not doing well.  Last night she had a temperatue of 101.1 after her chemo treatment.  The doctor said to treat it with tylenol but if it goes to 102 dad is to take her to the ER.  She did her radiation treatment this morning and is resting in bed. 

Even though the surgery was a success, she is still in horrible pain.  The doctor said that she might have worse or different pain for 3 to 5 days or it may never go away.  She is very upset about this.  I overheard I conversation between her and dad last night.  I think she was questioning why she might have this pain forever and he told her that they did know what her back pain was and she continued doing things.  Her same old motto of if you work hard things will get better.  She is wearing two pain patches now and on some different pain pills.  Wil just have to wait to see how it goes.

[lighthouse33]

As for myself, well I'm exhausted, haven't washed my hair in three days, but you won't tell anyone will you!  LOL! 

Ran the attachments on all the floors and cleaned the launry room this morning.  Cleaned up the dishes from last night's dinner while taking screaming commands from the couch.  One minute is was put the cole slaw in a smaller dish.  The next why haven't you put the larger coleslaw dish in the dishwasher and started it.  Because I'm putting it in a smaller container.  Well then just throw it out.  Sheesh!

When I was out working in another room I overheard another conversation between mom and dad.  I think he said to her don't you think we need to get some help i.e. the nurse in here.  She responded, no I don't want her here all the time.

[Katybarstool]

I'm not surprised you're exhausted, you have had a rough ride with your own health and caring for your parents. It's such a shame that your mum won't accept help Maybe she thinks she will soon be back in control? Is it safe for her to use two patches and drugs?

I wish I could lighten your load just now, but I am sending you some positive vibes.

Kathyx

[lighthouse33]

I'm not surprised you're exhausted, you have had a rough ride with your own health and caring for your parents. It's such a shame that your mum won't accept help Maybe she thinks she will soon be back in control? Is it safe for her to use two patches and drugs?

I wish I could lighten your load just now, but I am sending you some positive vibes.

Kathyx

I guess so, that is what the doctor prescribed.  I haven't looked at her meds.  Dad is taking care of that.  Maybe I can take a sneak peek.  She just threw up twice again after taking her medication.

She isn't drinking her water or her gatorade like she should.  I'm afraid she will end up in the hospital although that won't be all bad.  She wouldn't like it though.  That is why we need a nurse here to make her do what she should.

[Carebear]

Lighthouse,

You must be so stressed and filled with worry.  No wonder you haven't the energy to get things done.

It would almost be a good thing to have your mom evaluated and stabilized in the hospital would it?  This would also reduce the stress somewhat for yourself and your dad.  Try to get some rest.   

[lighthouse33]

I think that they finally broke me.  I can barely move, hold my head up, have a headache and all I want to do is go to bed but that's not an option.  Dad asked how I was doing and I said fine.  No use explaining, unless I have cancer there is nothing wrong with me. 

Four days of being up, non-stop stress plus having a flu shot on Sunday and four moles removed on Monday at the dermatologist haven't helped. 

Will see my rhuemy next month. Would not be surprised if another AI shows up on the radar.

On a happy note.  I got my cat some new cat food because he is so finicky.  He loved it.  In fact he was even doing tear outs, playing with his toys which he hasn't done forever, carrying them in his mouth.  He's 11 now so it is fun to watch him have some fun.

[Carebear]

Lighthouse,

Give that kitty cat a hug from me.     Aren't pets precious?

[Chickpea]

Lighthouse - just reading what you're enduring at the moment is pretty overwhelming, so I can't imagine what it's like living your life right now!

Could you speak to your rheumy soon rather than waiting a month before your appointment?  Everything is flaring by the sound of things, and maybe some Prednisolone would help?  Or some adjustment of the meds you're on?

So glad to hear you're getting such pleasure from your kitty cat!

Thinking of you - Chickpea

[Carolina]

Amen to Chickpea,

Hugs, Lighthouse

Elaine

[lighthouse33]

Yes, I may indeed have to speak with my rhuemy.  Things are that bad.

I have been debating about whether to post about this or not but hear it goes.  The very first thing reported on mom's PET Scan was:

diffuse cereberal atrophy

I see that the causes for this vary including old age, dementia etc.  But it is a marker for Alzheimers.  I only scaned the rest of the report but I would like to get it back from my dad to fully read it.

From what I've read of Alzheimers I believe that mom could have it.  The anger issues, the repeating the same question over and over again.  All of this seems to be getting worse the more medicated she is.

I don't know whether to bring it up to dad or not as to whether the cancer doctor has addressed this.  I have a feeling that he hasn't and I don't want to add to dad's stress load.

She's been having difficulty talking i.e. we can't understand some things she says, she says she doesn't know why she can't talk anymore.  This has been since her last chemo treatment and she is having difficulty spelling some words.

[Carolina]

Lighthouse:

Here is NIH on the topic:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7196545

But it is old research, I'll look for newer stuff.

Neurology. 1981 Sep;31(9):1180-4.
Cognitive correlates of diffuse cerebral atrophy determined by computed tomography.
Wu S, Schenkenberg T, Wing SD, Osborn AG.
Abstract
The relationship between severity of diffuse cerebral atrophy determined by computed tomography (CT) and severity of cognitive impairment was examined in 55 men, 50 to 77 years old. Partial correlations, controlling for the effects of age and education, indicated that increased cerebral atrophy was associated with decline in orientation, recent memory, and general level of intellectual functioning. Correlations between degree of atrophy and decline in immediate and remote memory were not significant. Despite significant associations between cerebral atrophy and some aspects of intellectual functioning, considerable variance in performance on cognitive tasks was not explained by cerebral atrophy. Therefore, the degree of diffuse cortical and central atrophy observed on CT scan did not closely predict the degree of cognitive dysfunction, nor did the observation of cerebral atrophy necessarily indicate the presence of dementia.

PMID: 7196545 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
MeSH Terms

LinkOut - more resources

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_atrophy


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC492442/pdf/jnnpsyc00170-0033.pdf

Correlation between diffuse EEG abnormalities and cerebral atrophy in senile dementia

Maybe these will help.

ASK her doctor what he/she thinks it means.

Keep us posted.

Hugs   

Elaine