Farewell, wife, mother and dear grandmother, 10 'o'clock in the morning, Saturday, December 7th., 2002.

Concerning the three images above: the small one is also on another page, and is an overpainted photograph of Margaret Douglas around the time she was married in 1941. The larger photograph is Mum, in her seventies, late in the twentieth century, near to the Planetarium in Kits, Vancouver, with the West End in the background, and the rich guys boats just in front. At least she seems happy, probably because the photographer is her daughter, Lynn, on holiday from Auckland. The lower photograph, with her husband, Raymond, was taken in Northfield, Birmingham, England, in 1961, when Peggy was 42. Ray and Peggy were born in the same year.

December 8th 2002: We will receive a death certificate, which will not include the cause of death. That is unknown, and will not be provided. Her husband, Raymond Dickins, does not want to make waves, and Peggy's cremation will be allowed to provide a finale. 

February 15th 2003: In a few days Dad will return from his trip to Auckland, to stay with Lynn and Peter. Their son, David, came over for a week to see Dad, which was nice for both of them. What will upset Dad on his return is the bill for two ambulance trips, for the last three days of her life. I am particularly upset that they took her out, obviously deceased, with a drip attached to her. What a charade. Memories are made of this, perhaps, but not in the old sense, and certainly not in this one, Mr Irving. 

Three times Mum was seen by a Psychiatric team at a hospital in Ottawa, twice at the Civic, once at the General. Each time, no advice accepted from family members. Decisions were made by talking to Mum, who relished the attention and was in consequence abnormal,  and also by taking a few tests. Each time she was deemed fine, and of no risk to herself, and released late at night, usually close to midnight.

Simply said, this is not good enough. To repeat, not only no advice accepted from the family but also none from the Psycho-geriatric services, again ridiculous. It is improper that the health system is transparently so compartmented that deaths can occur because pennies rule.

This listing of information is a somewhat fragmented summary of Margaret Dickins' health prior to her death: 
1. Incontinence and frailty growing together. Peggy cannot turn on the bath taps or deal with the shower. Cannot dry herself properly, or use the backscrubber. 
2. We are near the end of 2002, and the major facts are total negativity and pessimism combined with rapidly deteriorating physical abilities. Mater: Constant arguments with Ray; regular statements made about committing suicide; nothing one says is correct, but all of her opinions are. Makes one laugh, and come near to crying.
3. Medication addition: Donepezil, Aricept brand. 60 days 5mg, 10 thereafter. Alzheimer inhibitor.
4. Increasingly forgetful and repetitive. Seemingly unaware that she may have told the same story five minutes earlier, and reiterates her memories constantly.
5. Diagnosed as psychotic. 
6. Also diagnosed as demented, possibly Pick's Disease. 
7. Affected by total inability to recognise that she is physically ill. 
8. Constantly contrary. Anything that she disagrees with is wrong.
9. Has serious dental problems, and refuses to receive help for that and for optical work. 
10. No reading ability without peering through magnifying glass. States that she is in no need of glasses.
11.  Notes, emails, letters concerning Peggy Dickins.

Medication: Risperidone 0.5mg, one tablet at bedtime. This may be increased in her next prescription. No recent progress report, but see April hospital fracas.

Physical health, from blood and urine testing, 03/12/2002: clean. So, what is preventing her from sleeping, and why is she periodically troubled on the throne, by pooping her pants and constant vomiting? Had a further blood test and EKG on April 20th, again clean, but no attempt to find the source of pains in bowels, etc. 
April 2nd, really sick. And, again, April 19th onward.

2002 Older stuff:
Peggy has been taken to hospital twice now: both times sent home as soon as a psychiatrist had seen her. My experiences were discounted. No real analysis occurred, in my opinion. Mother is able to dissimulate adequately at these times. And, the fact that I have been there both times probably hurt our case for hospitalisation. Apparently, I am deemed competent as a support mechanism.

Note that, at LG's last visit, June 17th., it was clear that whatever happened at the Civic or the General, has not been passed to the PsychoGerries. No file updated. LG thought that Mater had had a CAT scan.

Historical events:
Comments about my mother, on the pages below, were added when it seemed appropriate.
There are, indeed, constant repetitions of statements or actions: the reason why should be patently obvious.
No desire to bore you silly, but this is also catharsis for me.
All errors of judgement are mine own, of course!
And, any grammatical nonsense you may find was generally written in haste, please forgive me.

Firstly, the details of 2001: Mommie Dearest, that's Peggy
Bi-monthly pages for 2002:
January and February;
March and April;
May and June;
July and August;
September and October;
November, December.

2002 Peggy's last days

Other pictures of Margaret Dickins can be found here.
Also, here can be found photographs of her own family,
including her dear departed brothers, both killed in WWII.

References, articles and links:
Aricept home page. Also, details on Donezepil from the Rx List. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors pdf. Plus discovery and development of donepezil hydrochloride for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Who cares? People in home care 05/11/2002
From the Globe and Mail: escherichia coli and salmonella may cause Alzheimer's disease. And at the BBC. Information: e. coli in depth and from the EPA. Click here for salmonella.
Alzheimer stays away if mind stays active?  
Diarrhoea
Perhaps being omnivorous is better
Risperidone, and another Risperidone site
College of Physicians and Surgeons page and so forth. If one accesses the Civic Hospital web page, one is told that phone calls cannot be answered with the attendee's name.
Read these two articles about the improvement of Alzheimer sufferers after some swimming (Society section, Guardian, original). And this, for middle-age memory loss.
Ottawa-Carleton Community Care Access Centre (http://www.ccac-casc.on.ca)
File of oddments, some containing mental matters
And an article about dosages for psychotics, and others
Pick's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia
Pick's disease, of the Lewy Body type
Internet Mental Health
Sub-acute endocarditis, brought on by poor dental hygiene
USA Act: HPIAA
Adobe pdf file re psychogeriatrics and dementia in Ottawa
Placebo effect as efficacious as Prozac?
Not that everyone dies from the same disease: Camilla Parker-Bowles on her mother's death from osteoporosis