jmgoyder

wings and things

Parkinson’s disease and paranoia

Well I was wrong about Anthony not remembering last night’s incident. I just spoke to him on the phone earlier this morning and he said ‘they’ are doing terrible things to him and that last night he decided to fight back. “I wanted you to come in and see they are testing me.”

I tried to explain that the staff were just trying to put him to bed, but he wouldn’t accept that and so I said Ming and I would be in this afternoon. He said okay in a tired, defeated voice.

Since then I’ve been looking at various articles about Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) that discuss paranoia and psychosis in the latter stages of the disease. The fact that Anthony remembers last night, and still maintains that he is somehow under attack, indicates that paranoia has well and truly landed on our doorstep.

In the literature about PD that I’ve read over the years, it is stated by many that symptoms like hallucinations and paranoia are not only symptoms of the disease but may also be side-effects of the medications. What a dilemma! Ants has had hallucinations for years and lately I have noticed them getting worse (not in a disturbing way – it’s usually just dogs in the room) but in terms of frequency.

The increase in hallucinations exacerbates the paranoia because if Anthony thinks a tablecloth is his dessert, or that a dog is sitting on top of his television, or that Ming is sitting in an empty chair, or that a spoon is a lizard or that the polka-dots on my shirt are flies, then it stands to reason that he might also see a nurse as a torturer. Especially if it is late in the evening and he is already tired and confused.

It probably seems harsh that I yelled at Anthony on the phone last night but I have found this to be quite effective in the past when gentle words don’t work. Cruel to be kind I guess and it kind of shocks him into a tentative acceptance of what is going on. Last night he didn’t believe me that the nurses were nurses until I yelled at him. Obviously, if I lived closer than a half hour drive I would have gone into the nursing home, and maybe I should have gone in anyway, but the nurses reassured me on the phone that Anthony had calmed down a bit, so I let them handle the situation and I hoped for the best.

In the past, it has helped Anthony a lot when I have explained the link between PD and hallucinations so this afternoon, when Ming and I see him, I am also going to tell him about how paranoia is also part of his condition. I think if he knows this it will help him cope better with the night time ritual of being put to bed by the nurses.

Time will tell.

The photo is from two years ago with ‘Doc’ (now deceased) on Anthony’s lap, and ‘Jack’ the Irish terrier we got Anthony as a surprise birthday present when he still lived here at home.

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Home

I got home from my second visit to Anthony at the hospital today to find that Ming had put the birds into their pens, fed all and sundry and let the dogs out for their second run. Jack (the Irish terrier) is all long legs and somersaulting enthusiam and Blaze (the mini-dachschund) is a desperado for hugs, so when I drove into the garage, they both greeted me with wet noses and gleeful barks until I hugged them both. Beautiful.

Then Ming said, “Where is my food?” so I put him in the chookhouse. It was a bit of a tight squeeze to begin with until he agreed to fend for himself tonight as I was pretty tired. Then I rang the hospital and, attempting nonchalance (since I had already bothered so many nurses today about Anthony’s meds. etc.) I was put onto a lovely nurse who handed me to a very strong-voiced Ants and I said goodnight to him without tears in my eyes. I had met this nurse earlier in the day when Ants had somehow clambered out of the bed and sliced his leg open and, as she was dressing the wound, I explained about the PDD and his previous post-op. behaviour. I did this in front of Ants because we have this unspoken honesty policy I guess.

Actually, no, not quite, because I am not sure whether to tell Anthony about his dementia or not. So far, I just say it’s Parkinson’s when he asks why this and that. I guess we will figure it out eventually. Tonight his left eye was swollen and blueblack due to the skin cancer being so close to it but the scar looks good and clean and it is such a relief to be rid of this horrible thing. Tomorrow I will take him back to the nursing lodge which might be tricky because he thinks I am bringing him home.

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‘Duuuuuuh’ moments

This morning I took Son to an outdoor concert where he is helping set up for the various bands. He would love to be performing himself, but these are professional bands and Son is still a novice, having only done three gigs so far. I reckon he looks the part though!

When I dropped him off, I asked him if there might be a slight chance he could perform, he said, “Mum, I have already told you a million times – NO! Sometimes you are really slow on the uptake!” He then pointed to his own big head and twirled his fingers to indicate the ‘duuuuuh’ sign. Yes, well….

Then I went to pick Husband up from the nursing lodge, to come home for the day. I stopped at the town’s farmers’ market to buy some cabbages (I usually get around ten at a time) and lettuces. On my way through the checkout, the girl serving me asked, “Where is your restaurant?” which, because of my slow mental reflexes, I thought was rather a strange question until she pointed to the mountain of cabbages.

“Oh,” I said, “no, these are just for my birds.”

“How many chooks do you have?” she asked, interested.

“This is actually for the emus,” I said.

When she laughed her head off, I realized she thought I was joking but, because Husband was waiting in the car, I didn’t bother to clarify.

“About five chooks,” I said.

“Wow, they must eat a lot,” she said, still laughing.

Another ‘duuuh’ moment.

Husband’s reunion with home and the dogs was lovely. I let them inside for awhile. Don’t be fooled by Husband’s lack of expression; that’s just the Parkinson’s disease. Doc is the one on his lap and Jack is our Irish Terrier. Blaze (Doc’s son) tends to cower when he is excited, so he isn’t in the picture because he stayed under one of the chairs (he and Doc have a fractious father/son relationship).

And then, all of a sudden, before the kettle had even boiled, the power went off – and stayed off for a couple of hours. So, no television, no airconditioning (it’s over 30 degrees and humid today), no water, no telephone. I plugged in the old telephone that doesn’t rely on electricity and rang the power emergency line and was put on hold, hold, hold, until I gave up and went back into the sitting room with Husband who suggested we have a beer! Okay, so we did that, had a chat about the future and then I said, “Okay I’m going to ring them again now.”

“Why?” Husband asked.

“Because I’m sick of this!” I said, impatiently. “We need electricity – this is ridiculous, waiting all this time.”

“But it’s fine,” Husband said, a strange look on his face.

“What?” I said. “Wait, I can’t hear you; the television is too loud.”

And, bingo, that’s when I realized that the power had come back on during our serious talk about the future and I hadn’t even noticed.

We both cracked up laughing after which Husband said he needed to have a lie down (laughter can be exhausting!)

And I am still laughing while I am writing about my third ‘duuuh’ moment in a single day – argh!

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Welcome home!

Last time Husband was in hospital in Perth, a visitor came in with three Irish terrier pups and Husband fell in love with them. So, after he got home I made some enquiries and found him a puppy, Jack, and Son and I surprised Husband. My mother was kind enough to go and get Jack from Perth and bring him home to us, so when she arrived we told Husband to close his eyes and I put Jack into his arms – well, kind of. Even at 4 months of age, Jack was a lot bigger than our miniature dachshunds, Doc and Blaze!

As you can see, Husband and Jack bonded immediately and they have a wonderful friendship. Unlike Doc and Blaze who are ‘outside/inside dogs’ ie. they are mostly outside but can come inside too, Jack is more of an ‘inside/outside’ dog, so he spends a lot of time at Husband’s feet in the living room and stretches out on the bedroom floor if Husband is having a rest.

On the phone to Husband yesterday, he said, “You haven’t bought any more birds, have you?”

“No,” I said, truthfully.

“Or dogs?”

“No.”

“Okay, then,” he said with a relieved sigh.

I didn’t tell him about the galah I’ve ordered. Husband has always loved galahs!

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