Undiagnosed Neurological disorder in my 62 yr. old dad

[Christiebooden]

My dad has had two very lengthy hospital stays in a neurology floor of a Level 3 Texas Hospital.  They ran multiple CT's, MRI's, Spinal Taps, Blood Work and EEG's to name a few.  There was seizure activity though my dad has never had a "shaking kind of seizure".

His symptoms include confusion, tremors, shuffling of the feet, a quivering sensation that starts "inside and works it's way up his chest and into an arm" he says...short term memory loss, changes in body temperature (extremely cold with chills, to hot with sweats), nausea, vision changes, changes in smell and taste, mood changes, half of his body will be cold and the other half (left/right side) will be hot, there are spots on the brain that appear to be an encephalitis like of virus/infection, scans were sent to the Mayo Clinic where it was determined that the spots did not have the markers of a tumor.  There is elevated white cell counts from the spinal tap, but every other test has been negative.  He's been tested for Prions, MadCow, Lyme, Herpes, Kidney Infection, Aides, Syphillis, Encephalitis, Heavy metals,  (manganese came back elevated, but on a subsequent urine test, it was negative?) etc., etc.,  He has a neuologist, infectious disease doctor and a neurosurgeon and no one knows what he has or how to treat him.  He is on antivirals, antiseizure, insulin and other meds.  Help???  What is this???

History:  He did have his left kidney removed in Oct 2011 because of a renal cell carcinoma that was contained.  He has had diabetis diagnosis that has gone relatively unmanaged until recently.

[Christiebooden]

Dr.s are still saying my dad's illness was a virus.  Now he's lost vision in both eyes.. can see halo's but not objects.  He has a frequent involuntary shoulder shrug, cold then hot, confusion, needs assistance walking.  They've started asking questions about metablollic disorders?  We need to figure this out so that we can stop the loss of function.  Help.

[jellokelli]

He could have something called diabetic neuropathy. This is when diabetes that has gone unmanaged starts to reek havoc on the body in neurological forms in many different ways. Also have dr.s check if you can for Wilsons disease, and get an EMG/NCV to make sure the muscles and nerves are not deteroriating- if anything these tests will help rule out some things and bring new ideas in. Good luck to you and your dad!