My mother, Dorothy, did not laugh for over two years. It was "killing" me....By Bob DeMarco
Max wrote about the last great big laugh he heard from his Great Grams. It was obviously vivid in his mind. See The Plaid Pajamas and the Last Big Laugh.
This reminded me of one of the saddest periods in my life. My mother didn't laugh for over two years. She rarely smiled during this period. Severe heartache, it hurt.
I would look over and there would be mom. The glassy eyed look, the stare into what must be either confusion or "nowhere". The look of Alzheimer's and dementia.
Then the day came. I picked up the bible, the Alzheimer's Action Plan, and I started reading through some of the pages I had dog eared. Page 82, The Less Than Trusty Thyroid. I read,
"Get your thyroid tested. Nearly one in five people over the age of sixty has some degree of hypothyroidism, meaning a sluggish thyroid. The sympotms include forgetfulness, weight gain, depression, dry skin, intolerance to cold, muscle aches, and fatigue. People who are hypothyroid feel as though they have mild Alzheimer's and depression all mixed into one bad day."My mother had five of the seven symptoms listed above.
I took out my doctor's notebook. The notebook I use to keep track of everything that goes on with my mother from day to day. The headaches, her temperature, complaints, attitude -- I call this part the diary. I made a note in the doctor's section to bring up hypothyroidism to our personal care physician. I did just that at the end of our next doctor's appointment.
Dr. Chiriboga was wonderful. He didn't give me the doctor look and talk, "what you read a book and now you are a doctor." He didn't act like I was questioning his capability. He listened and said, "lets check her thyroid". Blood test.
Seven days later we were back in the doctor's office and he said -- "the results look suspicious." She didn't actually test positive for hypothyroidism, but the result was just barely above the level defined as hypothyroidism. He then proceeded to tell me how we were going to take a cautious approach. He gave me all the caveats, prescribed the mildest dosage of thyroid medication, and told me we would test her blood in a month to make sure we didn't give her hyperthyroidism with the medication.
A couple of days later my mother laughed. I jumped up when I heard the laugh. I ran over to find out what was going on. Seinfeld, Kramer. Kramer made my mother laugh. I was so elated I felt like I could fly. Soar.
From that point on things just got better and better. My mother not only started laughing, she started smiling. She actually thanked me when I cooked for her. When I asked how food tasted she actually gave me a review rather than the standard --OK.
This development lead to my decision to find a way to get her out into the light, to get her into restaurants, to get her socialized. The more we did the better her life. The better my life.
Believe it or not, it was not unusual for us to go out at 6 PM and come home after 11 PM. My mother was the one that wanted to stay out. She had more energy and more LIFE.
Ok, advice and lecture time.
Get the thyroid checked. By the way, if your loved one has too much energy it could be hyperthyroidism. If they are dull, depressed and lacking in any kind of emotion, it could be hypothyroidism.
Now you might not get a miracle like we did, but it is worth the effort. Feel free to take this article with you to the doctor. If he refuses to give you this simple, cheap blood test -- go get yourself a competent doctor. Please note: not all personal care physicians routinely include the hypothyroidism panel then they send an elderly person for a blood test. Additionally, they might not check the numbers if a red flag doesn't come up with the test results. Like I mentioned, our doctor described the test result as -- "suspicious".
Now when I look at my mother and she has that glassy eyed stare into what must be either confusion or "nowhere" -- it makes my heart feel warm. Why? Because I learned by taking action -- "More there."
Instead of heartache, I get that warm, fuzzy feeling.
Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,200 articles with more than 9,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.
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Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
