The highs and the Lows

I may have used that title before but it can pretty well describes the events surrounding the condition of Jan. Recently there have been days with just uncontrollable crying, and on other days, very happy and smiling and talking, well mumbling. The crying really does bother everyone. No one likes to see her crying so the nurse looks for meds to helps stop the crying. And of course most medicine for this type of disease can be risky. It is almost an impossible situation to figure out. The nurse is trying. New drugs can be very risky in combination with the drugs she is currently taking, so what to do. It's a problem each day sometimes. Life is not easy for anyone.

Highs and Lows

Days are filled with walking, she can't speak and her weight is down to 115lbs from about 142. She is eating well and time seems to be less of an issue but of course she has been in her home for 7 months. I can't believe it's been that long. Her health seems to be good and she sees a doctor about once a month. Jans case is the only one he is treating that has Picks disease and he travels to several locations seeing patients. I don't know if that's good or bad, but then again her other doctor we had for over 5 years never did much as far as treatment is concerned and we stopped her from doing further MRI's because it wouldn't do anything but confirm the fact that her brain is getting smaller due to her disease. Jan did not like doing the MRI's. She also is the only person at Autumn Leaves who can't speak and that walks constantly. I try to educate all the caregivers about Pics disease and most have never heard of it but seem to appreciate knowing the symptoms and why Jan is so different from the others. I think it helps. One thing that bothers me is that you never know what end of the spectrum she will be at when you arrive. She may be very high, or she may be in tears. She may be happy or very sad. That is hard to take at times and I just have to remember it's the disease.
I spend less time with her than I was the first few months. Been very busy trying to get caught up on projects around this house. I hope to get away again very soon and see friends I haven't seen in a long time and escape my routine.