Hi--my 87 year old Dad takes great care of himself (good diet, walks a mile a day, stays happy and involved, exercises his mind). He has been experiencing what have been described to me (third hand, so who knows) as TIA's. I haven't been with him when he has had an "attack." Yesterday in the doctor's office was the most recent one. They MRI'd him right away, I don't know what the results were, if there are any yet. They did let him drive home (:angryfire what if there had been an accident???). My husband said his fine motor was such that he had great difficulty getting his eggs on his fork at lunch an hour or so later.
Basically, he loses his balance. The problem seems to be focused in motor and maybe balance, but we think the balance problem might be because of the motor issues. One time the EMS was called and his BG was around 45, they gave him some sugar PO and it was around 150 in the ER. This was the worst one, and there did seem to be some short-lived cognitive issues (wasn't sure where he was at the time, and this was a place he goes with his friends almost weekly). He later said some of the the cognitive problems hung on "for a while" (he said he recognized that he wasn't thinking as clearly as he is accustomed to--he is an engineer and critical thinking is a big deal).
He also has some vertigo at times for which he takes diphenhydramine po prn. He takes some HTN meds, aspirin, not sure what else. He has no chronic problems (other than this, and this doesn't slow him down much), is thin, has a good appetite and as far as I know, all systems are go. Coordination is fine, except for when he has these.
I am looking for suggestions as to what we should be watching for or doing, to minimize the frequency, intensity and duration of these events. We recognize that at 87, these kinds of things start to happen to the best of us.
with tia's, any unilateral weakness, drooping, slurred/no speech would be temporary. and if you look into carotid blockage, just be careful as there are a unique set of risks of elderly having surgery....
and elderly are almost always committed to their docs that they've been seeing for years. us nurses might think these md's are for the birds, but it's useless trying to convey that to our patients.
with tia's, any unilateral weakness, drooping, slurred/no speech would be temporary. and if you look into carotid blockage, just be careful as there are a unique set of risks of elderly having surgery....
and elderly are almost always committed to their docs that they've been seeing for years. us nurses might think these md's are for the birds, but it's useless trying to convey that to our patients.
leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
chris,
with tia's, any unilateral weakness, drooping, slurred/no speech would be temporary. and if you look into carotid blockage, just be careful as there are a unique set of risks of elderly having surgery....
and elderly are almost always committed to their docs that they've been seeing for years. us nurses might think these md's are for the birds, but it's useless trying to convey that to our patients.