It's an astonishing long time since I last wrote. Linda has been increasingly more agitated over the past few months.
She requires more attention and needs to be engaged with an activity of interest to her more frequently. It is more demanding on my time.
We have visited our Doctors as a result. Our family physician ordered an x-ray, blood work and urinalysis. Her urine showed some white cells but nothing very significant. The sample was sent for more in depth analysis but nothing shows up.
Linda's blood tests all were normal though her blood pressure is 106 over 64 which is a bit low. That may account for a little uncertainty in her footing and balance at times. We are giving her a bit more salt on her food. She has never liked nor wanted salt so we have to put it on surreptitiously.
The x-ray showed a small bowel blockage that was a bit of constipation. We are treating that with diet at the moment though she does take a stool softerner daily because of one of her medications. Prune juice in the mornings, oatmeal more frequently with bran and flax added, and continuing with whole wheat and flax breads seem to be doing the trick. A sidebar for me, is that my regularity and ease of bowel movement is enhanced as well because I eat the same foods! We also started to monitor bowel movements more carefully. Hopefully that is all that will be required.
The visit to the Memory clinic was very reassuring. Dr. Frank assured us that we were doing everything possible and that Dr. MacMillan had ordered all the right tests to make sure there wasn't a physical cause for any of the symptoms.
When Linda had her last small decline, Dr. MacMillan had prescribed a half tabled of Trazodone every 6 hours if needed. Dr. Frank, although supporting trazodone, suggested another medication with the trazodone as a back-up if needed. We started taking a half tablet in the morning when Linda's upset usually occurs. It seems to do the trick though sometimes she gets a bit sleepy, it is a sedative, and has a small nap before going to her programs. Dr. Frank encouraged the continued use and pointed out that Linda is taking the minimum dosage. She can move to up to 4 half tablets per day and after that to a whole tablet. I found that to be very reassuring as there is a long progression of increased medication to consider in the eventuality it is required. Dr. Frank also indicated there is a stronger medication in the same family which can be used in time when needed. It is also reassuring to learn that Trazodone is not addictive and should not produce any side effects.
Acting quickly to deal with the issues helps both Linda and myself. She is more at ease and my stress level is reduced.