Got some answers....

So, Brent's grandma hasn't been doing well health-wise. She's now in a nursing home and has been rapidly declining. Her doctors near where she lives haven't been responding to the concerns of the nursing staff at the nursing home. They ran quite a few tests (cardiac workup, stroke workup), but when they came back negative, they didn't pursue it much further. There was some confusion about whether or not Betty (Brent's grandma) was being followed by a physician in Madison here. According to the chart, it said that they consulted one of the attendings here. Oddly enough, the attending here had never heard of Betty. I work with the neurologists here, so I asked. I think what happened was that Betty's home docs called with a very non-detailed "hey, what do you think" call. Anyhow, we got her an appointment at UW that was today. I saw Betty for the first time since she started declining....and she looks like a completely different person. I don't think I can even put it into words. During the appointment, she had all the symptoms that she'd been experiencing at the nursing home. I felt myself fighting the urge to help her out during the testing....anyway....this is what they decided:

She's likely having some seizure activity. They did an EEG today. It was abnormal. They're going to recommend starting an antiepileptic drug. Ironically, I had told Brent's parents to ask about seizures about a month ago, and I'm pretty sure they got blown off by the physician covering the nursing home. Anyway...there's more...

She was on some pretty high doses of narcotics for her arthritis. I had no idea about this before today. That could definitely explain the lethargy, and possibly the confusion. She's 85. Who honestly prescribes that much narcs to an elderly patient?

She's on a lot of cardiac meds...and I think she just has a history of high blood pressure. The meds she was on was more for congestive heart failure. Those will probably get changed.

She was on a medication that has some potential bad side effects (and a black box warning).....that too will be weaned off.

I don't think that there is a "magic cure" for what's going on, but I hope the changes bring some sort of improvement. I went into the appointment thinking I was going to push to get her admitted. During the appointment, I realized that the changes are nothing that can be accomplished in a short hospital stay. It really helped to be able to read her medical chart from the physician at the nursing home. I can better understand the steps they've gone through.

She has an appointment in few months to follow-up. We'll have to wait and see....