adjusted_halo

yes, she has some family support. she only has two children, one of which was recently tested positive for the disease also. i think half the problem is that she doesn't have enough family support. she feels that her family just drops her off at her next place of residency (this is now the 6th place she's been in because of her disease) and takes off to live their own life, which in some aspects is true, sadly enough. she wants nothing to do with any association. we've discussed this with her a few times over the past few days. now that she's on some medication that's working, not only to help her symptoms and sideaffects, but medication specifically designed for hungtington's, she's doing better. i see a positive turn-around for her. i see that she wants a 'normal' life again as much as possible and is willing to do what it takes to get that back. she knows that she will never again live on her own because of her disease, but her goal is something in an assisted-living type place. my posting was just to see if anyone out there has dealt with this disease more, and has some suggestions to help her handle it better. with every disease, there's more to it than just medication. and with hungtington's, the symptoms change so quickly that they're constantly changing medication to go along with the new symptoms. what works today may not work tomorrow. so if we, those who take care of her and her herself, find ways in which to deal with her symptoms better, i think that she'll become less dependant on psychiatric drugs. *shrugs* just looking for some insight. thanks for trying to help. :)

i too have dealt with death just recently, for the second time this year. i work in an afh, so death is definitely something that is enevitable at my job. while not an easy thing to go thru, it can be quite a positive experience. death, like life, has meaning. and to each of us it's different. i take a lot of pride in what i do daily for the ppl that i take care of. we, as nurses, especially in settings such as nursing homes and afh's, r these ppl's sole providers, helping them do everything, from getting out of bed in the morning to helping them to the bathroom, to eating. so it's to no surprise that it would affect us in more ways than the average person when they pass. i have been lucky, so far, *knocks on wood*, that both of the ppl we've lost this year have passed after my shift ended and i had went home for the day. while most ppl pass with their loved ones by their sides, or their caregivers, sometimes they mean for themselves to go when no one's around, in fear of making ppl sad. maybe that's the case with this lady. there's not a day that goes by when i don't give my folks hugs and tell them that i love them at the end of my shift. that's something i have always done and will continue to do. keep in mind, that most of these ppl come to these places to die. it's our jobs to make their lives as simple as possible while they do. each of us has our own opinions as to dnr orders, that's never going to change. end-of-life nursing is not something that everyone can handle. let this death, and each one after this (if you should continue working in this particular field of nursing) teach u something. always remember them. they have changed u. feel blessed. *smiles

I work in an AFH. We have 5 clients, our newest of which has Hungtington's Disease. I'm used to working with Alzheimers and Dementia, so this is new for me. I'm wondering if anyone out there has dealt with a patient/client/friend of a friend of a friend who's had the disease. This one perplexes me. This client went from being in an assisted living residence to a psych ward all within a few months, pretty much because she was ignored by her family and fled to seek attention (suicide attempt, they say *rolls eyes*). When she came to us, she was on NO medication for her disease, and besides multi-vitamins, wasn't on anything to help her with her irritability/lack of being able to stop her emotions (which is the biggest sideaffect of her disease). The way they handled her disease at the 'hospital' (i'll call it that because it's pretty much what it was) was by strapping her down, either in her bed or in a chair in her room, and giving her downers so she'd sleep all the time and not bother the nurses and staff with her persistant questioning and inability to sit still (more of her symptoms). Since coming to us, she's on medication that seems to be helping TREMENDOUSLY with everything. She has so many sypmtoms, i don't think i have enuff room to list them all. So, basically i'm looking for someone who's dealt with this disease before, and maybe some suggestions at how to help my client best deal with her symptoms, making her life, and mine, along with my other clients, lives more pleasant. I welcome all suggestions at this point lol Thanks :-)