A lot has happened recently with my grandma. She had stopped eating, drinking, and taking her medicines. She refused to bathe and clean herself up. My grandma had officially begun to give up trying to live. Because of this, my aunts, uncles, and parents had to step in and do something.

Everytime my family has tried to call 911 to take my grandma to a hospital, she refuses to go and unless you are gushing blood and on the verdge of death, the emt's won't take you if you don't want to go. With my family at our wit's end, my aunt decided to go and get a court order to force my grandmother to go to the hospital so she could get help. The judge granted her the order and my grandma had no choice; she had to leave the house. After checking her in and getting her settled in the room, my grandmother was in tears. She claimed that her kid's didn't love her anymore and said she was so angry that she didn't wish to speak to any of them. My Dad and my aunts were crushed because of this. They've done all of this out of pure unconditional love for their mother and she sees the complete opposite. My grandma even lied and told the nurses that her children abused her so social services had to step in and talk to my aunts who explained that she stopped eating and everything so my family was cleared.

After about a week my grandma still refuses to talk to my aunts and my Uncle Terry but apparently she's okay with my Dad and my Uncle T.C. now. When my Dad was on the phone with her, she was telling him that nobody loves her and that she's most likely dying of a broken heart because of my grandpa and his "girls." He repeatedly tells her that he loves her but it's gotten so bad to the point where she pretty much doesn't beleive anything you say to her.

The hospital's psychiatrist started doing some evaluations and says that my grandma is having not only severe delusions, but also hallucinations. He suspects her of having psychosis. According to PubMed Health, Psychosis is a loss of contact with reality, usually including false beliefs about what is taking place and who one is, while also seeing or hearing things that aren't there. But to be absolutely sure, the hospital psychiatrist recommended that she go to a psych ward in Baltimore to run more tests. The nurses there say she settled in fine and was doing okay so far; so fits or episodes...yet.

I have to admit I really didn't see this coming or seeing her illness become so serious. It's literally been like two months and that's all it took for her to go so downhill in her health. It's one thing to be sick and have arthritis or something but her sickness is in her brain and that's the worst part. Because how do you fix something like psychosis? It completely disrupts and alters a person's lifestyle by limiting so much and in an addition to her depression, it's really not looking so good. As much as I don't want my grandma to die, I can't help but think it's right around the corner.



References:

"Psychosis," PubMed Health, A.D.A.M Inc: 2012. < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002520/>

In the search for another source to use for my anaylsis paper, I came across the Emedicine health page on Stroke-Related Dementia that helps make the connections between strokes and the likeliness of developing dementia. I originally searched this site weeks ago because I was curious if it were possible that my grandmother's severe delusions could be linked to stroke-related dementia. Turns, out that it's not only possible, but 9 times more likely because of her stroke and it normally shows up within a year post-stroke.

This website made it a little clearer that because a stroke is so violent on the brain, there are a lot of negative symptoms that can arise because of the damage. This source can add on to and help give my paper more facts to support my idea's on what could have resulted from my grandma's stroke.



References:

"Stroke-Related Dementia," EMedicine Health. Web MD,  Inc: 2012.<http://www.emedicinehealth.com/stroke-related_dementia/article_em.htm>

My Aunt Lorri's weekend was this past one and she claimed it'd be too much to take care of her parents with my Grandma's episodes, so she made a call to get some help. Bee, the night nurse that quit (because my grandma tried to hit her a few times and accused her of sleeping with my grandpa), came back last weekend to care for my Grandparents. And an even bigger suprise: my grandmother was thrilled to see her.

The whole weekend, Bee had no problem with her. My grandma talked to her and was polite and everything. She ate her meals (she's been alot eating less) and took her medicine (she's also been protesting). I don't know if Bee is coming back for good, or what but it's kind of nice to hear something somewhat positive, even if it is just for a weekend.

With all the bad things going on with my grandma, it almost seems like my grandpa has been getting better in comparison. He really does remember alot when you speak to him. He can recall stories from a young age, stories about his mom and brothers, about his children and so much more. He just forgets small details like age, names sometimes slip, and if he's somewhere new, he asks if you know the way home. But the other things he does like miss the toilet and become weaker and things like that are mostly just the toll of old age.

Maybe it's just because my grandma has been spiraling so hard,that makes him seem fine; but as weird as it sounds, it's a little comforting to know he's been okay and doing well. It sucks enough to have to see and hear a grandparent become really sick like my grandma has and I know no matter how angry she gets at random, she's glad he's there. Through her struggles, he's become stronger. During her fits and rages, he's calm and composed. And while she's in tears he's the first one there trying to comfort her. At night when she goes to sleep, he turns on a night light so she can see while going to the bathroom and is always asking everyone around if she's okay.

I'm thankful that my grandpa is holding it together for everyone, by being as healthy as he can be and even throwing in some humor while he's at it. It's a bit of a stress reliever that for now, we just have to focus on one grandparent and if we can get her to cooperate, then we'll be closer to helping them find stability and happiness again.

This past week was my family's turn to care for my grandparents. My grandma has been on what seems as if a downward spiral with her accusations of my grandpa's "affairs." For some reason she just won't let it go. It's almost like an obsession to her.

To me, it's been seeming a lot like she may have Dementia like my grandpa but maybe more severe since she's been extremely delusional. While my mom was there last weekend, it was only her and my grandparents in the house but my grandpa was in his room mumbling to himself and my grandma started freaking out saying, "who's in the room with Freddie? Who's he talking to? Is it those girls again?" My mom just reminded her that they were the only ones in the house and she dropped it...for a little while. My grandparents can't be left in the same room for long periods of time now since all my grandmother does is hurl rude and hurtful words and names towards my grandfather. 

The insults also go to others and not just my grandpa. She's yelled and insulted other people in my family also. She even got after my brother for trying to help her when she fell in the bathroom on Saturday. He went to help get her up and she told him "No I don't want your help. You don't know what your doing. Don't touch me" and things like that. And it really did hurt his feelings too.

Clearly because she is still on the whole "cheating husband" thing, it's been causing me to do more research on strokes and the effects on the brain. I know strokes can effect the left side of the body and cause paralysis on one side of the body but what else could strokes do to the human brain? 

During my search I found some things on EMedicine Health about Stroke Related Dementia. Depending on which parts of the brain that is damaged, determines exactly what symptoms that will occur. Paralysis, loss of bowel control, along with cognitive mental functions, judgement, memory, thinking, organization, and reasoning are all on the symptoms list (Stroke Related Dementia). The statistics even state that a stroke survivor is about nine times more likely to develop dementia then non stroke havers. Also, that about one in four people start to show dementia symptoms within one year of the stroke. 

With just this little bit of information it can help answer my question about the likeliness of my grandmother's delusions being formed from the stroke and also even being signs of a more severe form of dementia than what my grandpa has. Her stroke could've damaged the part of the brain that does the reasoning, hard thinking and judgement explaining her sudden irrational paranoia of my grandfather's faithfulness. Maybe if my family got more into researching her symptoms we could come to a conclusion and even have some evidence to show the doctors so they can help with her problems. They don't see it because whenever she goes into the doctors office she's pretty much on her best behavior so they don't see or hear the nasty things she says or thinks that is going on in her house. 

I'm just really ready to get down to the bottom of it once and for all. I know my grandma and she's not this cruel person that either the stroke, meds, or depression has turned her into. She's always been one of the sweetest people i've ever known and to see her either angry, mean, or in tears is just not okay with me. I just feel like right now no one knows what to do. We're all just standing around hoping Grandma will come back to us. The real her. I just really hope it's not too late and that somehow, someway, we can get her back.

References:

"Stroke-Related Dementia," EMedicine Health. Web MD,Inc: 2012.<http://www.emedicinehealth.com/stroke-related_dementia/article_em.htm>