Hi to all,

It has been a crazy month so my apologies for the delay in posting.  Congratulations from mom, Jim and myself to Michael Halter who finally got married at the young age of 44.  Jim and I attended and I took a video stream of Kathy to the Halter family congratulating Michael on his upcoming marraige and telling the Halters how important they are to the Reilly's.

Last Monday (September 10th) I took mom for her quarterly Kaiser Geriatric Visit.  There is this nice Nurse, Donna, who visited and evaluated mom for a half hour of so.  The team at Kaiser is great and have been very helpful as we deal with mom's deteriorating mental state.  Keep in mind, that this Geriatric Department Manages all of mom's prescriptions thru Aegis.  They communicate directly with Heather Retic (Nurse) at Aegis.  During the exam the team found that mom's 'white blood cell count' has dropped since she has had her prescriptions increased and monitored to keep her stable at Aegis.  Based on these WBC numbers, Donna, prescribed that we reduce the Depakote levels for the next three months.  Donna and I had already agreed to drop the Seraquil amounts (before getting the blood work results back) so we are monitoring mom's behavior closely.  We want to assure that mom maintains the stability we are enjoying right now, while trying to decrease her need for unnecessary medications.  Also,mom has lost 13 lbs since her last visit in late June and her weight is now at 159.  We would like to see it stay here and not drop any further.  Her blood pressure was solid 131/79 and her pulse was a strong 71 beats per minute.  Lung volume was good.  Mom answered that it was 1969 when asked what year it was.  Her memory continues to be our most concerning issue.  She thought it was January. 

I have visited with mom roughly every other day since the prescription dosage drops and there is not too much change in her day to day mental capacities.  However, each time I visit with mom, even before the Kaiser visit, she is laying or sitting down.  I am working with Aegis on this, but they assure me that mom walks more than any other resident by far.  Still, I am going to keep an eye on her a bit more frequently and closely.  It is not a big hassle or inconvenience because it is so close to the house.  Jeannette and visited with mom on Sunday and we did the usual walk about inside Aegis.   I will be stopping by this afternoon, as well.   The past four weeks have been dreadfully hot in Southern California with temps in the triple digits so walks outside are out of the question right now.  Looking forward to cooler temps. and we will get mom outside.

All the best,

James and Bill