I was kind of dreading the follow-up appointment with the doctor who diagnosed Jim with Dementia.

Not because I was uncomfortable with the appointment but because Jim is still fixated on that ass of a doctor who told him he couldn’t drive anymore. There was no way to control what would come out of Jim’s mouth.

We’re still mid-pandemic, so the appointment was another phone call. I spoke with the doctor first and we ran through his list of questions again. I was sadly surprised at how much my answers had changed within the past four months. The doctor agreed that some of his decline could be caused by the lack of stimulation because everything had been closed but he was going to attribute most of Jim’s decline to Dementia.

He then spoke to Jim and did the same MMSE questions as he had the last time to evaluate his cognitive function. Jim was furious with me when I wouldn’t cheat and give him the answers to questions like: What day is it?

The doctor’s assessment was that Jim had gone down 2 points on the measurement scale which put him firmly in the moderate Dementia realm. Considering that the scale is only from 1-30, 2 points is a freakin scary jump.

The doctor started to talk about medication.

This is bittersweet. Yay – medication to help prolong his cognitive function but Boo, it doesn’t work until the moderate stage. You have to wonder if this is the stage anyone would want to prolong. It’s the transition stage between being somewhat independent and becoming completely reliant on others.

In my pea brain, wouldn’t it be better to delay the progression of Dementia before getting to this stage. but, that’s not how the medication works – it’s useless until the patient hits moderate dementia and even then it’s a crap shoot. The medications don’t work for everyone and the result vary. Some people show improvement in cognitive function (not memory through) while others just get a slight delay/alteration in the path of decline.

From what I understand, all three medications work approximately the same way. They are differentiated by the type of Dementia and possible drug interactions, so you have to pay attention to underlying diseases and potential future issues. In Jim’s case, he’s flirting with kidney issues, so only one of the medications for Dementia can be prescribed.

I’m holding off on the decision of medication. The other part of Jim’s follow-up is a CT scan, which we finally have scheduled for later this week. I’d prefer to have all information before deciding especially since Jim is showing signs that he could also have Lewy Bodies thrown into the Dementia cocktail in his brain. Best to know for sure before throwing drugs at him.