Mother with LBD

[Guest guest]

My mother has recently been diagnosed LBD though in retrospect we might have

caught this earlier. She had surgery three years ago for a perforated colon and

we all noticed then that she was particularly sensitive to medications,

especially the opiate derivatives. She began having the Parkinson-like tremors

shortly thereafter.

She fell two years ago and suffered a terrible shoulder injury. In January of

2010 my sisters began to notice that she was not paying close attention to her

finances and had all of her bills set up for autopay. In March I stayed with her

and discovered she was having hallucinations, not particularly frightening but

disturbing. I'd just read a TIME article about Lortab possibly causing confusion

and hallucinations so we first suspected medications.

She fell in May and broke her pelvis. The EMT's guessed that she may have

slipped while getting up from her favorite chair while still very sleepy. She'd

fallen two other times with no serious consequences. Once she made an adventure

of the situation and crawled on hands and knees to the kitchen for water and

food, telling us it was like camping. She even had the fall call button but

didn't want to worry anybody by using it!

She spent two months in a rehab center recuperating from the broken pelvis. They

were able to wean her from the Lortab which helped immensely but there was a new

confusion present. She regained physical strength but it was obvious that she

would not be able to live at home alone any longer.

I have a large family, so at this time my siblings and I have decided to try

caring for my mother, taking turns as we are able. Her primary care physician

finally, finally gave us a referral to a University Cognitive Center.

Our journey is not just beginning but now that we have a diagnosis we are

learning about places where we can turn for information.

I would like to learn about issues common or specific to women with LBD. I'm

just starting to read through posts, recent and archived. Any information on the

next direction to turn (I'm attending a support group and have read quite a bit,

books and internet about LBD)

will be welcome and I thank you in advance.

I'm researching physicians, nurse practitioners and neurologists in my area. Any

preferences for type of care? I was told by somebody recently that after a

diagnosis is made, the neurologist becomes less important that a caring team of

individuals willing to work on medication and symptom issues. This same person

told me she had very good luck with a nurse practitioner although my mother is

sorta old school and seems to prefer the traditional " doctor " to tell her what

to do.