Good for you Reba!!!! You tell em........ When God is ready he will call your husband home, and it's apparent that time isn't now. When my dad passed away in 2008, hospice was there and they were wonderful......how terrible for them to tell you that.
The first time I called Hospice they said the doctors could decide to take him off of all his medications and I said "that would be murder" and I told them I can't agree to that. When did they become God. If they are in pain give them medication.
My husband is so easy going I don't have to worry about him being stressed. He jokes and is funny. We can't always understand him but he is happy. He sings songs and talks but we don't know what he is saying, only part.
He fell and broke his hip like I said but when he opened his eyes, it was like he came back from the dead. We are so thankful for this time we have with him. The doctor said he wanted to put him with Hospice for end of life. I said no I am taking him home and here he will stay. The doctor said he could live a day, a week or a few months. I know he will not be here long but he needs to be home, where he is safe. Homes are not safe because they don't have enough help. He was dehydrated when he left the home. He looked depressed when he was there. The fall in a way was a blessing because he is awake now.
Reba, you are the one taking care of your husband which makes you the authority of his day to day health.....You see the changes, you know what works and what doesn't. I hope his doctor is working with you in that manner and not telling you what you should or should not do. My personal physician is also my MIL's and we sit and brain storm together. He is a wonderful man and physician and I am thankful I found him. He will sit down and talk with me and when I tell him things I have seen or feel that should be done with mil, he says "what do you think about trying this or whatever it may be". I feel more involved that way. Even though you are taking care of your hubby and love him dearly, which he knows, do you think he feels more stress because your life together is not what it used to be? 55 yrs together is wonderful........I can only hope to follow that example........
I didn't ask the doctor to take him off. I told him what happened and he agreed with me. How can they know it works anyway. How fast would one person go down hill as to another may go very slow. So does this drug do anything at all or is it the drug companies making money. If he changes from what he is now I will ask them to change his medication for his blood pressure. He wasn't on it in the hospital and that happens a lot with people. For some reason they seem to do better in there than at home. I guess it is because they have no worries in there.
It is in the bible that if you don't take care of your family, you are worse than an unbeliever. But I do love him, we have been married for over 55 years.
You could be entirely correct about your husband's BP medication. My hubby says the medications are made, put on the market, but no one REALLY knows exactly how they work and what effects they have. And let's face it, we humans are not all alike so different meds work in different ways. MIL doc told me to increase her zyprexa to twice a day since she was always so argumentative, non-cooperative, and on and on. Did that and she is so much more mellow but reading the side effects yesterday and it's like wow didn't know this...........dehydration was the main side-effect, plus others. Now it's a toss-up....should I try and deal with the possible side-effects or let her go back to driving me crazy? She might never develop the se, but she could push me over the edge w/o the med....:). I think that is one of the se of Aricept and if he is better without it then by all means don't give it to him, but make sure his doc knows that. One of the biggest problems with over medicating is that when the elderly does not have anyone to oversee their daily care, they see the doctor for whatever reason, the doc gives them medicine, but they don't tell the patient to stop taking something else. The elderly don't know to ask if they should stop......they just keep taking EVERYTHING given to them. Used to have a female patient who kept a large candy dish on her dining table.....she would just empty her medication into the dish and take out what she wanted to take. Blew me away when I saw it! It sounds like your hubby is improving and I hope it continues that way.....you sound like a caring, loving person.
He is 77 and I am greatful to have him for a while or a long time. No they don't know what he has and I am not upset that they don't know but only because they think they know it all. I know it is guess work.
When he came through the hip operation and saw us he was like he is now. They put him on Carbidopa Levodopa. I guess that is to replace the dopamine. I still wonder if I should give it to him. If a person doesn't need it, maybe it could do more harm. I did a lot of searching on AD when they said he had it. He was on a medication called Aricept. He was with out it for a week and he started going to the bathroom on his own so I never gave it to him again. Doctors over medicate and no one can prove it. I have often wondered if it was his blood pressure medication that could rob him of his memory.
Hubby states he is seeing an increase in physician notes from patients coming in from nursing homes that state "Parkinson-like" symptoms. Doesn't necessarily mean that they have Parkinson's. Parkinson's is diagnosed by decreased dopamine production in the brain. There is really no way to diagnose Alz and the docs really do have to rely on what family members tell them. Too often the elderly, especially those with dementia, cannot give a factual account of what is going on. Their concept of time is gone, they don't feel cold and hot like they used to. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have picked up ill patients over the past 25 yrs and asked the whole gamut of questions to give me an idea of what I'm dealing with and have these patients give me negative answers, only to stand there in the er room while they are asked those same questions by the doc and they answer in the affirmative......you have no idea how stupid that makes you feel! Reba I am glad you still have your husband with you and it appears he is doing better and I pray for his continued improvement...........
Jam, I understand they don't know at times but they should just say so like your husband. I want to tell you my husband sat and didn't nothing for months and said very little. I started to say and forgot as it was time to give him his medication.
I believe my prayer was answered and I want to give God the credit. I prayed before his operation - God give him back to me or take him home. Well God knew I didn't want him back the way he was but would take him back the way he is now. God did that for our family and all I can say now is, THANK YOU FATHER FOR GIVING HIM BACK TO US EVEN IF IT IS JUST FOR A WHILE.
He fell and broke his hip like I said but when he opened his eyes, it was like he came back from the dead. We are so thankful for this time we have with him. The doctor said he wanted to put him with Hospice for end of life. I said no I am taking him home and here he will stay. The doctor said he could live a day, a week or a few months. I know he will not be here long but he needs to be home, where he is safe. Homes are not safe because they don't have enough help. He was dehydrated when he left the home. He looked depressed when he was there. The fall in a way was a blessing because he is awake now.
I didn't ask the doctor to take him off. I told him what happened and he agreed with me. How can they know it works anyway. How fast would one person go down hill as to another may go very slow. So does this drug do anything at all or is it the drug companies making money. If he changes from what he is now I will ask them to change his medication for his blood pressure. He wasn't on it in the hospital and that happens a lot with people. For some reason they seem to do better in there than at home. I guess it is because they have no worries in there.
It is in the bible that if you don't take care of your family, you are worse than an unbeliever. But I do love him, we have been married for over 55 years.
Thanks for all of your input
I know it is guess work.
When he came through the hip operation and saw us he was like he is now. They put him on Carbidopa Levodopa. I guess that is to replace the dopamine. I still wonder if I should give it to him. If a person doesn't need it, maybe it could do more harm.
I did a lot of searching on AD when they said he had it. He was on a medication called Aricept. He was with out it for a week and he started going to the bathroom on his own so I never gave it to him again. Doctors over medicate and no one can prove it. I have often wondered if it was his blood pressure medication that could rob him of his memory.
I believe my prayer was answered and I want to give God the credit. I prayed before his operation - God give him back to me or take him home. Well God knew I didn't want him back the way he was but would take him back the way he is now. God did that for our family and all I can say now is, THANK YOU FATHER FOR GIVING HIM BACK TO US EVEN IF IT IS JUST FOR A WHILE.