Having problems with message search?
As of
late, the caregivers are having an extremely difficult time getting
him to shower, change clothes. he tells my mom that they never ask him
to shower.
My mother had similar issues. She lives in assisted living and one of the problems was they were asking her if she wanted to shower and she always told them no or that she already had taken one. Due more to her memory issues. She told me the same things that they never came or that she had showered. Anyway, we just focused on it and one of nurses just came in with a different approach, and it worked. She didn't ask, she just said okay time to shower. I think she also made it seem like it was my mothers idea in the first place. I know with my mother the loss of control has been very difficult for her. Also we started laying out clothes for her in the evening and that helped her to remember to change.
Another thing that made a huge difference was Exelon and Namenda. These two drugs really seemed to make a difference in her demeanor.
My mom does not get very much info from the dr's and I don't really
think they are treating him as a patient with WKS because of
medicaid issues.
I've had the same experience with my mother's doctors but I don't think it is due to medicaid issues. I think more likely is that there really is no specific treatment for WKS other than massive doses of thiamin in the beginning and of course abstention from alcohol use. The dementia is the common ground with other diseases so that is what they treat and in our case it has worked fairly well. The Exelon and Namenda have seemed to help "brighten" things. At the beginning my mother was simply not engaging and now she is. She is making lists, shopping, etc. Can she function on her own, absolutely not, but she is more engaged and if not happier, more functioning. I hope this answered some of your questions. Good Luck and Take Care, Kathy
Offline 
Send Email