The John Update

First of all -- thank you all for your concern, worry, prayers, phone calls and emails. I apologize for not being very responsive...some days, I don't even check my email. 

I've started to write this blog post at least 20 times....but I either end up crying...or whining....and I just didn't know how to tell this story.

John has been in the Jersey Ridge Place Memory Care for almost a month. He got off to a rocky start...but things have settled down. More or less. I go in every day and spend several hours with him -- and Ross goes in every evening, after supper. Ross stays for several hours, and he gets John ready for bed.

My brother Calvin picks him up for lunch once a week or so. I take the kids and Frankie in for visits now and then.

On May 3, I'd visited John in the afternoon -- and he seemed to be doing fine. I was back home when the phone rang at 4:30 PM...and it was the nurse at Jersey Ridge telling me they'd called 911 because John was clutching his chest, his sugar was high, he couldn't talk, and they thought he was having a heart attack.

By the time I got to the hospital, John was in an examining room -- and his eyes were wild. He was trying to climb off the table, and was pulling at all the cords and wires they had hooked up. He was non-verbal and it took two people to keep him on the table.

At some point, this all felt very familiar to me. I have called 911 THREE TIMES since December...every time, I thought John was having a heart attack....he was unable to talk, he was moving in an agitated way, clutching his chest.  All three times, he would fall -- I couldn't get him up...so I called 911.

But he was NEVER having a heart attack.

However -- in every case, the Emergency Room gave John a round of drugs to calm him down -- so they could do the necessary tests....

On this night, it suddenly dawned on me that maybe these DRUGS were having a very negative impact on John's brain...

Ugh.

I asked them to please NOT GIVE JOHN any drugs. Obviously, they didn't listen to me -- but, as it happened -- a more serious injury came in at that moment -- so they left me alone with John. Twice, I had to call for help to keep him from climbing off the table...but....

After about 40 minutes -- John's "episode" had passed. He was able to talk, and he was relaxed and happy...actually -- I took a picture at that point...

We stayed at the hospital for several hours so they could do (and then repeat) the test to make sure John was not having a heart attack.

But he was FINE...and he was hungry. I ordered a meatloaf dinner....and this is a picture of John, waiting for his supper....

Honestly -- he looks like he could be on a cruise ship....

John has Alzheimer's...and I'm not kidding myself. This is a long, difficult road we're on. 

But the good news is that I've finally figured out that John has been having panic attacks. And many of his problems have been exacerbated by repeated doses of Haldol, Ativan, Lorazepam, and a long list of psychotic pharmaceuticals he probably should NEVER have been given. 

The next time I write, it'll be about how to handle a panic attack without calling 911....