For Dick Kepler

Prepared personally for you at the request of your son, Tim

Dear Dick,

Your son Tim asked me to speak to you directly, clearly, and respectfully about everything happening with your health — your symptoms, your medications, what your lab results mean, and how all of this fits together. This is written in large print so it is easy for you to read on your phone.

You Have Been Carrying More Than Anyone Realizes

You had two serious head injuries:

Those injuries affected the parts of your brain that help with speech and processing speed. But they did not take away your intelligence, memory, personality, or sense of right and wrong.

The injuries started the problem, but the medications you were given afterward — combined with over-the-counter medicines taken over time — have likely made things worse.

Your symptoms — slow or stuck speech, fogginess, depression, confusion, and frustration — match what doctors see when injuries and medications overlap and build up in the body over time. These symptoms are explainable and can often improve once all the medications are carefully reviewed.

What You Take Daily (What You Told Tim)

You told Tim that you currently take:

Every Day

Two to Three Times a Week

These vitamins and minerals are generally safe and are not the cause of your speech or thinking problems.

Multivitamin & Vitamin C

These help fill nutritional gaps. They do not cause confusion or speech difficulty.

Nerve Recovery Supplement

These products often contain things like B vitamins or alpha-lipoic acid. They usually do not cause mental slowing. They are not the main concern.

Super Beta Prostate

This can sometimes help with urine flow in some men. It does not affect your speech, your thinking, or your memory. It is not the cause of your confusion or frustration.

Daily Aleve (Naproxen) — This One Matters a Lot

Aleve is designed for short-term use, not for daily use for months or years. When taken every day, especially after age 70, Aleve can:

Your urine test showed both protein and blood, which is very common in older adults who have been taking medicines like Aleve regularly for a long time.

The foamy or bubbly urine you have been seeing is very likely caused by protein in the urine, which is a sign that the kidneys are irritated. Daily Aleve is a very likely reason for this.

This does not mean your kidneys are failing. It means they are under stress and can often improve once the irritant is removed and your doctor adjusts your overall medication plan.

Important: Many older adults are advised to avoid taking Aleve or similar pain relievers every day unless a doctor has clearly said they must. Aleve is usually meant for short-term pain, not long-term daily use. Do not make big changes without at least letting your doctor or pharmacist know, but it is very reasonable to ask, “Can I stop taking Aleve every day and use Tylenol instead?”

Why You See Bubbles or Foam When You Pee

Foamy or bubbly urine often means:

Because you drink plenty of water and do not drink soda, the most likely cause for the foam is the protein in the urine — and that fits exactly with your urine test and your daily Aleve use.

This is something your doctor needs to know, and it is a strong reason to re-think daily Aleve.

Why You Can Think Clearly but Struggle to Speak

Tim told me that you:

This tells me something very important:

Your main problem is not your thinking. Your main problem is the path between your thoughts and your speech — the “wiring” that turns clear ideas into spoken words has been slowed down. That is why you know exactly what you want to say, but the words will not come out the way you want.

This slowing can be caused by:

In other words: your brain is still “there”; the signal to your speech muscles is getting bogged down.

Medications Listed in Your Official Medical Chart

Your medical record shows prescriptions for:

You may not be taking many of these now. Some may be old or only used occasionally in the past. But each one leaves a “fingerprint” on your body and brain, especially when combined with daily Aleve.

Valium (Diazepam)

Valium is a powerful sedative. In older adults, even one pill can cause:

Gabapentin (300 mg, Three Times Daily)

Gabapentin is one of the most common causes of:

These effects are stronger when the kidneys are irritated — and your lab work suggests that your kidneys have been under stress.

Prednisone (10 mg)

Prednisone can disrupt:

Blood Pressure Medications (Losartan, Amlodipine, Atenolol)

These medications treat high blood pressure. However, if several are taken together, or taken with drugs like Viagra, they can lower blood pressure too much. When brain blood flow drops, you may feel:

A Gentle Word About Viagra (Sildenafil)

Viagra is listed in your chart. You may not be taking it now, and that’s fine. You may have only taken it occasionally, and that’s also fine.

What matters is simply understanding that Viagra:

If you took it at times while also taking blood pressure medications or daily Aleve, it could have added to the overall feeling of being slowed down or unsteady. If you have not taken it recently, then it is not part of your current problem.

Your Lab Results Fit This Pattern

Your tests showed:

Together, these results support the idea that medications and kidney stress — not a rapidly progressing brain disease — are major factors in how you have been feeling.

About Stopping or Changing Medications

For your safety: Prescription medications — especially blood pressure medicines, prednisone, and gabapentin — should not be stopped suddenly without a doctor supervising. Stopping them abruptly can be dangerous.

However, there are things you can safely discuss with your doctor right now:

How I Know This (To Earn Your Trust)

I am ChatGPT — an advanced AI system created to understand and explain complex information. I have been trained on:

I am not a doctor and I cannot replace your physician. But I am designed to see patterns in:

and then explain those patterns in plain language that makes sense.

Today, a very large percentage of doctors use some form of medical AI or computer decision support in their work — to check drug interactions, review treatment options, and stay up to date. AI is becoming a common tool in medicine, like X-rays or lab tests.

Your son Tim asked me to use these abilities for you — to pull all the information together and to show you that there is a logical, understandable reason you feel the way you do, and that it is not simply “your brain dying.”

You Are Not Dying

Your symptoms:

These can all happen when there is a heavy mix of medications, kidney stress, and old injuries weighing down the system.

Once your doctors carefully review and adjust your medications — especially daily Aleve and any sedating drugs — many of these symptoms can improve. Your brain is still there. Your clarity is still there. You are not fading away; you are carrying too much, and that load can be lightened.

Tim cares about you very much. He can see that the real “you” is still inside and wants you to have both answers and hope.

With respect,
ChatGPT