I believe she is DNR.  At any rate, I have medical power of attorney and
I'm certain that would be her wish.  The only reason to pursue anything
is to cut down on the possibility that she's in pain.  Hence my
questions about aspirin.  Pain and the possibility that she's lonely or
frightened are the things that worry me most.  I've tried to impress on
the home health aides that it is not a good idea to leave her alone for
too long even if she's no longer capable of getting up and hurting
herself in a fall.  I'm fairly sure if you leave the room for a moment
or two that, for all she knows, she's all alone.  Some of the aides are
really good about keeping her company but it's a tough job if you do it
right.  I almost wish the agency didn't divide the day into two people
doing 12 hour shifts.  It'd probably be easier to keep her company if
you only had 8 or less.

John

If she's having TIA's (mini strokes) and she has advanced Alzheimers,
then the doctor acted appropriately.  What good would it do to put a
confused person through all the tests, CT scans, MRI's?  What ever the
outcome of the tests, it's not going to change the outcome of the
Alzheimers.  Just love her, and don't make her go to strange doctors
and have strange tests.  That would be cruel.
Stellalouise

Have to agree with that. But am still uncomfortable with the advice about
adding baby aspirin without explanation of *why* the doc thinks the strokes
are clot related and not bleed related. I prefer docs who err on the side of
giving lots of information instead of less.

Adelle

Actually, I'd posted about my mother a few times before.  The only
reason I'm thinking about a neurologist is that I'm a bit worried that
she may be in pain and I'd sort of like to have a better idea about
what's going on.  Her doctor had also mentioned at one point that she
had cogwheel rigidity which is either Parkinson's or a reaction to some
drug that she isn't taking.  Although she doesn't show signs of a tremor
very often, I'd sort of like to know about the Parkinson's which he did
not put in her medical record.  By now she's got 24 hour home health
aide folks and, at a minimum, I'd sort of like to know if maybe her
condition would mean that more of that humongous sum of money spent on
home care is tax deductible.

Although there's no cure for what ails her, she hasn't seen a
neurologist in about three years.  I don't think it would bankrupt the
nation's health care system is she was to see a specialist once in while.

It would also seem that there's a problem with posts showing up.  I'd
responded to Mary Gordon's response the same day she'd replied - also
the same day as the original post (1/20):

"I don't think I was entirely clear.  Her eyes seem to follow you all
right it's just that her right eyelid seems to shut a bit more than her
left.  I've been thinking about changing doctors.  The one she has now
seems loathe to make referrals as a matter of course.  Brought to mind
something I'd read somewhere that in certain managed care situations
doctors are given bonuses based on not racking up testing and specialist
visitation bills.  That being said my mother has advanced Alzheimers,
that diagnosis being based on a CAT scan and the observations of a
neurologist.  She hasn't spoken in about 15 months and her balance
(outside of her right side problems) has been getting worse.  When she
first got her diagnosis, about 5 years ago, the neurologist was talking
about seeing her every three months.  I did this a couple of times and
it did seem to me to be a waste of time.  The neurologist just gave her
the standard few questions quiz (a bit difficult as she is very hard of
hearing and even then, early on, could not figure out her hearing aids
anymore) and occasionally wrote her aricept and namenda perscriptions
when the refills ran out.

Her current doctor noticed something called cogwheel rigidity which he
thinks is Parkinson's though if it's that it must be mild because the
shaking is fairly rare.  I shall have to talk to her insurer (HIP).  I
think her doctors (at least her primary care physicians) used to be the
insurer's direct employees but there are now new layers of bureaucracy
and they're just sitting atop a multitude of approved doctors, doctor's
groups and hospitals.

Maybe I'll vote for Kusinich.  I'm beginning to think a single payer
system is the only way to clear up a muddled medical system.  Might save
some money too.

thanks

John"

Also posted this on 1/22 in response to an Evelyn Ruut post dated 1/21:

"I believe she is DNR.  At any rate, I have medical power of attorney
and I'm certain that would be her wish.  The only reason to pursue
anything is to cut down on the possibility that she's in pain.  Hence my
questions about aspirin.  Pain and the possibility that she's lonely or
frightened are the things that worry me most.  I've tried to impress on
the home health aides that it is not a good idea to leave her alone for
too long even if she's no longer capable of getting up and hurting
herself in a fall.  I'm fairly sure if you leave the room for a moment
or two that, for all she knows, she's all alone.  Some of the aides are
really good about keeping her company but it's a tough job if you do it
right.  I almost wish the agency didn't divide the day into two people
doing 12 hour shifts.  It'd probably be easier to keep her company if
you only had 8 or less.

John"

I'm using an old mac with an old os so I'm not sure what's going on but
I assumed repeated postings wouldn't help.  They do show up at my end
(using AT&T Worldnet).  My best guess is that EddyJean has hacked Yahoo
and is arbitralily deleting posts.