 |
 |
Hello, I've subscribed to this group hoping to find information that might help my father, but I confess I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'm not sure where to begin. I don't live near my father, and I am just trying to inform myself, as well as give him the chance to let me do research for him that I can then mail to him and his wife. He was diagnosed with PD about five years ago, after almost as many years of what we all thought was depression. The rate of decline increased recently -- within the past two years. I learned enough from reading over the internet to know that his most recent problems (balance, speech problems, confusion, memory loss) could be worsened by some of the medications he was taking. I was hoping the worst symptoms were more side-effect than symptom. A couple of weeks ago he called to tell me that his doctors now say he has Alzheimer's. I was able to determine from his wife that they did an MRI, which showed nothing, and a Spect???? scan??? -- some other type of brain scan -- and that they concluded it was Alzheimer's. That's all I know about the diagnosis. He has also been instructed to see a psychiatrist, but hasn't gone yet. They hope to help him with the depression which has surrounded all phases of his illness(es?). Is this common? The double diagnosis? I thought it was, but then I've been told by some that it isn't likely that he, in fact, has both disorders at once. His dementia takes the form of what his wife calls a kind of "conceptual dyslexia" -- doing things backwards. His wife also told me that one of the doctors suspects his "depression" "triggered" the Parkinsons (he has, she said, the genetic markers -- as, of course, I probably do as well). Is there medical evidence that depression _causes_ PD? If so, on a selfish note, I need to know, as this makes my chances of developing the disorder later in life even greater than they already are. I have suffered from clinical depression for years. If it sounds like I don't have all the facts, that's because I don't. It pains me to speak with my father, but I try to do it when I can. I can tell him I love him, and I can discuss some things about his illness with him, but, for now, asking him about specific symptoms is too painful for both of us. That's the other reason I have subscribed to this list -- to learn more about what I can do to reach him, how best to help him, and just how to communicate now, before it is perhaps too late. I know these questions, particularly the personal communication ones, cannot "really" be answered by reading the messages posted to this or any list. But that's why I'm here, with little to offer and much to learn. Thank you all for helping people like me find a wider base of understanding. Sincerely, Laura