to discuss end of life decisions. My brother, my mom and I went. My mom is a member of Kaiser HMO and I have to give them credit in taking a proactive approach. We met with a palliative care nurse who was able to give us some feedback on mom’s memory test. For memory and cognitive skills mom was “normal for her age”. Well, she’s 90 so memory loss is not unrealistic. They also tested for anxiety and depression since those can impact memory. Mom tested with mild anxiety but no depression. We were given a form for the advance healthcare directive. My brother and I will meet with mom over the weekend to have her fill it out and then sign and return. I also have a copy for us, which is one of the things that I want to get completed this week. After losing our friend to a stroke last month, it has really driven home the need to be prepared and know what our loved ones want.
I’m going to follow up with her doctor about getting her on aricept or another memory enhancing (or really memory loss slowing) drug.
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