Doctors appointment

We went back up to the U of U for Jaren's neurology appointment to go over his test results from his neuropsychological exam and his MRI that he had back in September, those appointments are always a little overwhelming but we made it and it wasn't to bad until after we got home and it all set in. 

They called us back and did the usual vitals and then they always do a mini mental exam before the Dr. comes in and at the U it is always a student first and then they both come in together and talk, this time the Dr. and the student asked me to come into their office alone with out Jaren so that they could talk to me.  I went with them and they had his MRI's pulled up on the computer and went over them with me, they said that the report states that there has not been any change but they are going to question them because they see significant changes on the scan.  They showed me the scan from the last time and then the scan from Sept of 2012 and I could see the changes and I am not a Dr. I was pointing things out to them and they were agreeing with me that I was not crazy and that the changes were very significant.  The results from the Neuropsychological exam showed that he struggled with it but that he was very compliant and did the best he could.  He has a hard time following instructions and he scored 1 out of 10 on some of the test and 2 out of 10 on others which is not good, they which makes sense and it coincides with the MRI.  His brain is shrinking and you can definantly see that.  I couldn't believe the change.

He talked to me about how tough things are going to get.  I asked him to give me a timeline and he said there really isn't a time line but the brain is not a threaten to his life now, he said that people that have Dementia are more likely to get hit by a car because they don't know not to walk out in front of one, or forget the chew their food and choke to death. 

We then discussed some options of where I could get some support from and I told him that I had been working with the Alzheimers Association and that they wanted to use the kids letters on a national level.  He stated that he has an undergraduate class that is trying to come up with a curriculum for school age kids that would help them deal with terminal illness in their families and asked if I would be a guest speaker for his class and if they could call me with any questions and of course I said YES, I would love to help.  This is why I am going through this trial so that I can help others and tell them what I know to save them a lot of trouble, I told him that a caregiver is a caregiver no matter what disease the patient has it is hard work and sometimes frustrating and overwhelming.  It feels really good to know that with everything that I am going through that maybe in the future I can help those that need the help, that I had to fight for day and night.