Binswanger's Disease........

I spoke to my Dad this afternoon and he said that the neurologist diagnosed Granny with Binswanger's Disease. Here is a definition of it:

Binswanger's disease, sometimes referred to as subcortical dementia, is a rare form of dementia characterized by cerebrovascular lesions in the deep white-matter of the brain, loss of memory and cognition, and mood changes. Patients usually show signs of abnormal blood pressure, stroke, blood abnormalities, disease of the large blood vessels in the neck, and disease of the heart valves. Other prominent features of the disease include urinary incontinence, difficulty walking, clumsiness, slowness of conduct, lack of facial expression, and speech difficulty. These symptoms, which tend to begin after the age of 60, are not always present in all patients and may sometimes appear only as a passing phase.

The prognosis is not good. He said she is basically in a waking coma at the moment, although not quite completely there. Her heart is going to stop, she will go into that coma-like state permanently, or she will be taken off the ventilator and stop breathing. She is also suffering from demyelination, which is basically an erosion of the material that lines nerve endings. I just hope that she does not suffer much longer. I have cried some in the last day or so, really just sobbing fits. I am sure that this will get better with time. This is way worse than my divorce. More when I feel up to it.......

Nucksy