WHAT'S IN A NAME?

We had our follow up appointment with the

neurologist yesterday,

I now have a name for what ails my Mom.

Binswanger's Disease

Binswanger falls under the vascular dementia heading.

No cure, no really good drugs.

Binswanger's disease, also called subcortical vascular dementia, is a type of dementia caused by widespread, microscopic areas of damage to the deep layers of white matter in the brain.

The damage is the result of the thickening and narrowing of the arteries that feed the subcortical areas of the brain.

Commonly known as "hardening of the arteries". 

The most characteristic feature of BD is psychomotor slowness-an increase in the length of time it takes to do things.  Other symptoms include forgetfulness, changes in speech, an unsteady gait, clumsiness or frequent falls, changes in personality or mood (most likely in the form of apathy, irritability, and depression), and urinary symptom that aren't caused by urological disease.

All of these symptoms fit my Mom to a T.

My Dad asked me yesterday,

"What was the point"

Us putting Mom through the MRI, two doctors visits

and for what.  We don't know anything more than we did before.

"Those doctors are all in co-hoots".

The point for me is now

I have a name.

It gives me some comfort and power

to face tomorrow, to know what might be coming

and how I should best react.

I'm glad we have a name.