Life update, situation stabilizing, hoping for better future

Since i've shared a couple of personal things here and i have had quite the torment this year, i would like to take this opportunity, having a free day, to share a little bit of positive developments in a still fragile situation.

First and foremost, earlier this year i have lost my precious, dear and 'best friend' ever, my 26-year old orange pussycat, whom was my companion for so long. She went through all the ups and downs in life and was honestly the sweetest, cutest kittycat ever. Never hit, never hurt, never. I miss her every single day but she is buried in my front yard, decorated with some beautiful Chinese Hibiscuses, and a little solar light on top, representing the light and sunshine she brought in life and the precious flower she was. Again, i miss her every single day.

That said, i have the privilege for some time now to adopt a very sweet boy-cat of 6 years of age, and he's a really sweet buddy. He's called 'Olaf' and we tend to call him 'Buddy' because he's a great buddy in this time. He really likes to be around us, and he has become almost inseparable from me. Here's a picture of my buddy. He's in bed with me right now, with my laptop on my lap. He brings both me a lot of joy and calm, but also to my mother, giving her emotional support. I can genuinely say he's really important for her well-being right now.

Olaf

Anyway, as far as my mother goes, she's been very, very difficult to deal with a month or two ago. She became agressive, rebellious, angry, and started to have an even 'almost evil' kind of personality. A far cry from her true self. That has proven to be the most difficult time in life we've had yet. Especially because she did not want to see any doctor, help, or anything, and started blaming us. Again, completely against her normal sweeter-than life personality.

We were borderline lost and 'rock bottom edge' with no idea how to navigate or what to do.

Thankfully though, my mother slowly opened up to at least see the GP and do some blood tests. That revealed some interesting data. First, a shockingly high level of antibodies for infection/inflammation. We decided to stop with the Anti-Depressents she was having. That was a tough decision because she is extremely depressed, but i started having some suspicions in something, and based upon that, stopped with the AD because it can be actually harmful for people with said situation, and the GP suspected she was having a allergic reaction to the specific AD she was having which can even lead to inflammation of (certain parts) of the brains. An indication for that was that she was having an inflammation / infection but there was no bacterial presence at all.

We are now a few weeks on, and it must be said, that she has greatly, and extremely, calmed down and is a lot better 'manageable' so to speak. Let's say that she had 'schizophrenic' behavior and that the 'bad personality' is greatly gone now, and she has returned to her sweeter, more loveable self - just extremely depressed, extremely sad, and, above all, still, very much unwell.

And here comes what the GP now greatly suspects because of some data that also came from the blood test**. Dementia.** There is presence of accumulation that suggests, based upon many aspects, that she is very likely suffering from Lewy Body Dementia.

That is interesting, because it would explain her mental collapse earlier this year - in the sense that she's having had a psychosis, which is related to her troublesome youth. The issue here being, that she is certainly having psychological problems, but these are not the source of the problems, just a layer that she is having. Initially the problem, for months, has been that she did not want to see a psychiatrist. I believe she fears that she is afraid that she is going to be diagnosed 'psychotic' and needs to put in an 'insane asylum' (her words years ago actually), so she did not want anything to do with that, which has proven difficult because she really needs to see a doctor.

Now, the good news is now that she is finally open to see one. Specifically, a Geriatric Neurologist. And this gives me hope. I've taken upon me to investigate and watch videos of people with LBD, and it's 100% how she operates and behaves, it's absolutely mind-blowing.

I hope that the Geriatric Neurologist is able to help her with proper medication. We soon will be making an appointment and then will be starting the process of investigation. I will be making the first appointment alone because my mother's unfortunate greatest fear in life is that she will end up with Dementia / Alzheimers. Because both her parents suffered from that, and died from that. And i've seen myself with my grandparents how horrible that disease is and my mother always, for decades, has claimed she fears that because she's afraid forgetting me.

I even believe that she suspects this herself. She recently forgot what medication to take in the evening and was staring at her medication, not knowing what to do, and then she burst out crying that she doesn't understand why. So, i'm afraid she is aware of it, which is heartbreaking.

I just hope that if she is fully diagnosed, that we can find a way of telling her what she has, without telling her what she has so to speak. Though in one way, it is her right and she deserves to know, in another way, she's been through so much and fears that disease so much, that i prefer to find a way to describe something that 'fits' the profile. Up until now i have described it as that that i suspect there is a chemical unbalance in her brains for some reason, probably age and stress, and that like thyroid disease, she might need medication to correct that imbalance, and that i think her 'dopamine' levels in the brain are really bad. I've been already aiming at vitamins and supplements as a description over medication.

She is taking some 'anti-stress' medication and that seemingly is helping quite a bit. One of the biggest issues for her is that she is claiming she's constantly hearing 'voices' that are saying bad things about her. I hope the Neurologist can help her with that, as that would bring rest to her and perhaps improve enough that she can become more relaxed.

The sad part is, that, if she really has Lewy Body Dementia - which is according to the GP 80 % chance that is the case, but as he himself claims, he is not an expert - then i'm afraid my poor mom won't have long. Her own father passed from LBD in just 2 years and so did her mother - after being diagnosed.

Meaning, i am afraid that my poor mom won't have much longer.

So it's still sad, but, at least there is some clarity and things are a bit more stable right now.

Thanks to all you people for lending a hearing ear and giving support. I am really grateful for that.

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