Hi Rich,

This may sound strange but you need to do a short term memory test on your mom. Just write down a few words like you would on a grocery list then read the list to her and see how many words she can remember. (the words don't have to be in order.) My neuro does this with me to see how my short term memory is and take my word the more sz. a person has the more likely it is for a person hippocampus (memory& learning area of the brain) to shrink and get harder causing memory loss.

Tell your mom that if she refuses to take her AED's that a nurse will have to come into the home 24/7 or the family will have to put her in a nursing home for her own safety. This is very hard and heart breaking for everyone but this is what we had to do with my Grandmother after she left the stove on when she was baking. You also have the legal right to speak with her Dr. and let the Dr. know what's going on and how she's refusing to take her AED. Then the Dr. will speak up to your mom. Another thing that could happen is if your mom refuses to take her AED then it could lead to status epilepticus sz. which are life threatening the sz. lasts 40 min. to days depending on the person and the person has to be admitted into the hospital and given an iv of med in order to come out of the sz. this in turn causes more brain damage. Just tell your mom that if she loves her family to take her AED's and also stay away from cell phones and nutra sweet both cell phones and nutra sweet cause more electrical activity in the brain and trigger sz. for many people. I found this out the hard way when others were using cell phones around me I always go into a sz. and nutra sweet from diet soda triggered sz. like crazy for me. I wish you and the family the best of luck and May God Bless All of You!

Sue