Agression

I’m not sure exactly what day this happened. I didn’t write down the date. I just know it was after 081309.

Lynn, RN at the center, called saying that Rick had shown some aggression that day. Gladys took him to the bathroom and he grabbed her arm twisting and squeezing it. It took two others to get him to let go of her. Then he proceeded to follow her around, his face showing anger. It was 30 minutes before he stopped following her.

He didn’t smile much this day. He walked around looking straight ahead.

Sleeping more again

I got a phone call from Lynn, RN at the center. She said Rick was sleeping in the chair leaning forward and must have fallen out onto the floor. She asked him if he was alright and he laughed.

She said she noticed he’s been sleeping more in the mornings lately, having a worried look on his face and rubbing his hands together more, his knees bouncing. Maybe I need to go back up to the full dose of Zoloft. I will wait a little longer before I do that.

I will get his Dilantin level checked next week. It will be 3 weeks then.

Ups and Downs

I got a call this morning from Lynn, RN at the center. She said the only things she has noticed different in the last couple of weeks was more knee bounding and rubbing hands together, more stressed.

Today he has been very talkative. He responded to her across the room when she complimented him on his shorts and shirt. He immediately said, “Oh” and looked down at himself, “Thank you.”

We decided to leave things as they are for a while yet, because he may still be adjusting to the new medicine regimen. Decreased Zoloft to 25 mg last Sunday, 072708, and added Exalon Patch this past Sunday, 080308.

I hadn’t realized he wasn’t bouncing his knee anymore until he started doing it again this week. He has been resistant at times but more times than not he has been compliant.

Lynn also told me last week when they gave him his bath they went to get him and took his hand. He pulled it away and said, “No!” They tried again a little while later and he did it again. They were eventually able to give him his bath. He came home last Wednesday, 073008, with a bag of wet clothes. Sometime after his bath he had an accident.

So we will watch to see if this keeps up or if it gets better again.

Back to his normal

On 080108 Rick had a little spell in the morning.

I reduced Rick’s Zoloft last week, 072708, to 25 mg qd. I didn’t notice much change in him. We started the Exelon Patch yesterday. He didn’t seem to have any nausea or loss of appetite. The only thing I noticed is that he watched the TV a little bit more last night. He laughed at something that happened on it.

Just for the record, Rick has been back to his previous level of functioning since we discovered his high Dilantin level. And reduced the amount he was taking. He is walking without difficulty, standing up straight, participating in conversations, making jokes. He has been much easier to take care of. He still gets resistant at times grabbing hold of things and not letting go. But basically he is back to his pre-toxic state. Praise the Lord!