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As this is the first day I've logged online in a month, i thought i would just update you all a bit - My dad, Dempsey Salter, who lives in Tyler, TX has been out here in Los Angeles with me since the beginning of September. When I found out in late August that he had lost 20 pounds, was totally dyskinetic, with no plans to see his doctor before my Mom's "much deserved" get-away to London 10/3 - 10/12 - I flew out to see how they were doing. Not only was I horrified at his appearance (119, 5" 9') but also at the lack of effort being directed his way - no details on any of that at this point... Anyway, after a week of much heated discussion between my Mother, Father, Grandmother and me - with the family unit completely breaking down - I decided to just get Daddy out of there and see if I could have him re-evaluated here. Mom was thrilled to have him gone, Daddy was terrified and I was determined!!! As of today, it's been interesting - but the most frustrating thing of all has been the the doctor we saw (one I trust and admire a great deal - also a movement disorder specialist at Loma Linda University) - introduced Amantadine into Daddy's regular regime - As many of you know, Amantadine is an older drug that is now making quite a comeback with regard to dyskinesia, in particular... Well, it reduced the dyskinesia, alright! But it stopped everything else too! So for the past week, Daddy's been pretty much in a dementia-type state - (horrible hallucinations, slurred speech, shortness of breath, sleeping all the time, not knowing where he was, etc.) we started it last Thursday, stopped it Sunday and yesterday (Wednesday) was the first day he could stay awake and know who was who and what was what. Unfortunately our doctor was out of town and I'm still waiting to find out what "Plan B" will be - Anyway - we see him next Tuesday and will return to Texas when we can - Ooops - looks like Daddy just turned "off" - so hopefully he'll still make it to lunch!!! As always - thanks for listening - Cari daughter of...