Do You Remember Evelyn?

On my March 15th entry I recounted the story of Sharon and her siblings as they dealt with their mother Evelyn and her experience with medically induced dementia. Earlier this week one of her older siblings, whom I also taught, wrote to me. In that letter, Jack commented on that entry remarking that what I said was "right on the mark." With his permission I include the rest of his comments

"Mom now talks like she did 10 years ago. You are right. You can't give anyone that kind of mind affecting medication and expect them to cope. I wish health care providers would sometimes just take a step back and really think about the types and quantities of medications they are prescribing for the elderly. As you said the real tragedy is that many elderly people don't have a loved one to help. It really took a toll on Sharon as well as Mom. I'm glad it is over. Mom is physically healthy for her age (85). Now that she is "dried out" perhaps she can enjoy more of her remaining years."

I was moved to post this entry today after reading a story on cnn.com entitled, "Is Grandma Drugged Up?" The link to this story, both a video and a text story, is listed below, documenting what evidently happens all too frequently to elderly Americans. You can cut and paste this URL in the address box of your browser.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/28/ep.age.meds/index.html