My dad's rapidly declining and I don't understand.
I was under the impression that Parkinson's was a slow progressing disease. My dad is 74 and as far as I have been told, he was not showing any signs of Parkinson's prior.
The timeline starts autumn 2021, when he had multiple falls. Then mid-Feb 2022, he fell and couldn't get up at all. While hospitalized, he thought he could walk, became very hostile, and acted out violently. This is when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
Over February and March, he has been hospitalized and spent time in a rehabilitation facility. He continues to have hallucinations such believing that he can walk, and is now incontinent.
My mom is still trying to think positive that medications may help, but according to everything I am reading, these symptoms are considered the last stages of Parkinson's and will require nursing home care until he passes.
Does anyone have any experience with this happening so quickly? And if so, was there anything that was possible to do to prolong not only his life, but also the quality?
Hello, I'm sorry that your father has been thru so much in a short period of time. My own father was diagnosed in his early 70's. Now he is in his upper 80's and has both PD and cognitive decline. There are different types of PD and experiences vary from person to person. Many people benefit from medication and therapies to help with all the various symptoms. I would recommend that you review your father's care plan with his physician or neurologist to figure out what is best for his case. We have found help also thru a social worker who was on staff with my father's neurology group. They helped with mapping out my father's care and to help us understand what he is going thru and how the family is impacted. My father has caregivers come into my parents' home to take care of him currently. This works best for my mother right now. I have included an article written by our staff editors that might give you more insight into PD and options for treatment. https://parkinsonsdisease.net/diagnosis-treatment
Please let me know if we can be of anymore help to you. All the best, Suzanne Troy, ParkinsonsDisease.net team member
abioticn, is your father still lucid at times? he can change his outlook on life and you could bring him to exercise and do something like you used to before. he may be feeling down and out and if reflects in his thinking. let him think positive thoughts and i know it is difficult but he is what he thinks. mindfulness, is what it is called. i hope you can persuade him to do it
I am in same position but my husband got P’S at age 42 and now is 62 can’t work and has a lot of problems going on and hard for me and him my husband of 44 years high school sweetheart’s I was 15 he was 16 we were apart for some time while his father was stationed in England for Air Force and he went in for one stint. He has gone down hill really fast over a years span gets mad easy , see’s things hears things can’t tell what noise is in real life or on tv. He has been getting mental decline came on fast! He is paranoid and can get very verbally abusive to me I’m only one he has other family members are dead or his father is blind now macular degeneration runs in his family he is having seeing problems too and seeing colors. He goes all over the road some times been pulled over once for it cop was nice my husband said he was and didn’t realize it he had had 2 beers luckily he didn’t smell of beer but the cop said I had to drive to where ever we were going I’ve had to make him pull over because he was having the jerks and movements he can’t control and his legs are getting numb more and more up to his knees and arms too . Toenails are purple and fingernails are now to we live in Fla it’s hot and humid. He is stubborn as hell and yells at me in public! He has ED now and been 2 years he just can’t except it we have tried everything even in our town theirs a commercial on tv about a clinic in Pensacola Fla. that can give you medicine in pill form guaranteed to work well now it’s a shot to his penis very hard to do can’t hit blood vessels and not CHEAP we live on social security disability we now live on 1/4 of what we did. It’s hard I love him and try so hard I know no it’s not him it’s Parkinson’s but he has always had a temper! He was on 4 mg. Neupro Patches after years he started blacking out 2 x in one day into hard surfaces so had to call ambulance. He was lucky he had a concussion. I was terrified he had internal bleeding in his head but the did scans and didn’t see any. So stopped them and took a day to get out of his system but no more fainting we did have a follow up with his neurologist he wasn’t that worried he has been seeing him for 20 years. My husband’s legs are stiff the doctor said maybe it was from sitting down and getting up to fast well he can’t do that I was so mad he does that stuttering steps a lot. He is clingy to me sometimes I don’t mind some times he hates me everything is my fault , he lied a lot because brain problems are kicking in it hard for the person with it and dang sure on the only caregiver he has for now we are not wealthy. My husband was a good hard working man we have to grown sons one in Air Force and 28 other lives in south florida 2 kids 7 years old one almost 2 his wife is a nurse practitioner with her doctorate degree makes good money but works a lot , my other son is 37 has master degree in finance and works for a good company but raising their own family they help with lawn care. But my husband is disappearing before my eyes he is in hell and I am to. When they did the scans the part of his back that has stabbing pain bad sometimes they found Arthritis the exact spot but he won’t do any to make the pain better. So hod bless you all Parian’s caregiver this is a evil thing ruined all
Hello, I'm so sorry to hear that things have not improved for your husband. He doesn't seem willing to seek medical advice so this is obviously very hard on you. I hope you are finding ways to take care of yourself too!
Since you have a daughter-in-law who is in the medical field, would she and your son be able to help you intervene with your husband and encourage him to seek medical attention? I would also highly encourage you to take the steps to taking away his car keys before he hurts himself or someone else! We had to to this with my father and I know it's not easy. We told him we needed to borrow a car while our car was in the repair shop. Luckily, this led to us buying his car as our car was not reparable. Whatever it takes to get your husband help at this point is your best bet! I'm praying for your intervention. Please let us know how you are doing. All the best, Suzanne Troy, ParkinsonsDisease.net team member
How are you doing? We haven't heard from you so I'm just checking in to see if you and your husband are doing okay? We're thinking about you here at ParkinsonsDisease.net. Please let us know if we can help or pray in any way. All the best, Suzanne Troy, team member abioticn,
Since you included "bio" and "ticn in your "stage name", as a biologist who
has worked in just about every job a biologist can work in, my wild guess is that you are a Biology Technician?
My first reaction to your plaintive question about "isn't Parkinsons a slowly progressing disease" is this very broad answer:
It depends completely on the individual patient.
Your father may, or he may not, have had some of the less noticeable symptoms of Parkinsons for a very long time before he took a sharp downward turn.
As a pharmaceutical rep in neuroscience for 18 years I was aware that I had Parkinsons for 5 years before I sought treatment.
I only sought treatment, NOT because of tremor, which was barely there, but because of one fall that would have likely killed me if my daughter hadn't grabbed my wrist when I screamed for her to do so, as I was falling backwards onto asphalt.
My only injury was a broken elbow, but that fall was a wakeup call.
For older people, they MAY have what appear to be just a few symptoms for YEARS, like incontinence, trouble finding words, the occasional fall, shuffling gait, difficulty getting up out of their chair, a little trouble with their balance.
These "little" things are commonly associated with the normal aging process and they come on gradually.
At some point they become cumulative and the "little things" coalesce into a diagnosis of Parkinsons.
The progression of Parkinsons can be at a snail's pace for some, like me.
Unfortunately I am the exception not the rule.
There may be someone who can explain WHY some patients progress slowly through Parkinsons and others travel at the speed of light, but I am not that person.
As has been mentioned you need to seek answers from his care team, because your father is their patient and they are the only ones who have answers to your questions.
I can feel your anguish in your words. Do not blame yourself because you certainly did nothing wrong and neither did your father.
Parkinsons is a brutal disease.
We are all here for you ❤ with strength and hope. Thank you for reaching out to us at such a time when things are scary and happening so fast.
