@llthomson I may have answered this to someone else. I'm sorry. I try to answer these messages with information of value, because I rely on other Mayo connect caregiver answers so much. thank you to all of you have taken your time for me.
My husband is 78 and was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. He immediately went on Lequembe what I thought was 18 months but I'm now being told is 36 months. I need to verify that now. In between are periodic MRI's and initial PetScan was done that diagnosed it along with that first MRI, and a few other test. The periodic MRI's in between certain stages of Lequembe are to look for any brain bleeding, swelling, etc. I don't know what you mean by your husband only getting a 6 month benefit from an 18 month set of infusions. What I'm told and read, is that lequembe slows down the MCI alzheimers progress, doesn't restore the memory he lost, but slows it down, and the studies I've seen, show patients are getting results. As I'm sitting in the lequembe infusion center in South Florida, spouses are communicating with each other on the results they are seeing in their significant other. But what I'm told is that takes time - and doesn't appear to be the first set of initial infusions. I don't know if this good or bad - as anytime we take any kind of medicine, medically, one thing could trigger another. What I do know is we know the outcome with no treatment of any kind. So for my husband and I we chose the lequembe route. Kinsula I've heard is a stronger treatment once a month. And the diagnosis between the two (lequembe or Kinsula) depends on the findings in the MRI, and I'm not sure if associated with that APOE4 gene. You can tell I'm not a doctor, so I have to rely on the diagnosis the doctor gave us. We didn't go for a second opinion at Mayo COnnect, as the neurologist we have here has a big practice and he was referred by our primary care. BUt I love Mayo and if you're not convinced the direction you want to go in, get your primary to refer you in, unless you are already a Mayo patient.
Hope this helps. I know as a caregiver, I'm like a sieve every time some wonderful caregiver here shares with me what they know.
God's light to help guide us through the day and all these decisions we are now forced to make. We are not alone.