Adios Keppra

Dad is officially off Keppra and back on Dilatin. It's kind of a big deal. This is how the story goes:

-Dad takes Dilatin for many years following his first bout with the brain tumor in 1988, but is eventually weaned off of it and allowed to be medication free for about 10 years (note: most BT patients take anti-seizure meds for life - very rarely are the cut free from this burden)
-After the onslaught of new tumor activity and subsequent 2nd brain surgery in early 2005, he's put back on anti-seizure meds, namely Keppra, to control ongoing simple seizure activity
-Downside is that these drugs make him even more "out-of-it"
-Is weaned off these drugs summer 2007 by crappy neurologist, who should have never allowed this to happen without MRI and seizure activity study
-After seizure-induced coma a few months later, followed by another brain surgery for tumor recurrence, is permanently placed back on Keppra, a drug with no generic counterpart I might add
-Summer 2008 dad falls into the Medicare prescription coverage gap/donut hole..... a long period of time when Medicare will not cover drugs.... bills start to ring up in the $100's of dollars for Keppra each month
-Mom contacts his new neuro-oncologist to find out if safe to switch him back to Dilatin, which has an affordable generic counterpart
-After several weeks of careful monitoring and tapering, dad is now full-time on Dilatin, and seems to be less "out-of-it" and a bit more communicative

Looks like the plan worked. It benefited his overall well-being, and is less of a financial burden. He's back in physical therapy about 2-3 times a week, and still keeping up with his Tai Chi class twice a week. I picked him up from class last week, so I had a chance to observe his progress in his Tai Chi moves from over the last few months. He's much improved. Overall he seems a little less weak, although bruises and scratches from falls around the house are still a regular occurrence.

On another note, dad has a new caregiver that seems to be working out well for him and mom. She's quite friendly, very helpful and experienced with senior care and is a good fit for them!