Alzheimer's:Does anyone out there have personal experience with friends or relatives who suffer from it?

Question

My mother,who is 78,has recently been diagnosed with this condition. She's on medication for it,so everything that can be done
is being done. I don't know very much about it except it's an incurable brain disease that afflicts 1 out of 10 seniors. If anyone
out there has useful information or advice it would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Not only do I work in a hospital and see patient's with Alzheimer's on a day to day basis, but it is something that my grandmother also suffers from. There are medications for it, but it still progresses. People with alzheimer's begin to forget things, they may not know what certain objects are used for, they start to not recognize people around them. Somebody I know had a grandmother with alzheimer's that had called a restaurant saying that she was being starved and hasn't had anything to eat in days. Some people with alzheimer's can become violent, although that is not always the case. Many of them are very pleasant. (I enjoy these people. they are so confused but they are really really nice and make me laugh, although it is still very sad what is happening to them). Some people are extremely difficult to deal with. I had one patient that insisted on "going upstairs to get her sister." She was very hard of hearing and I tried to keep telling her that she was in the hospital and it was 3 in the morning. Then she would ask where her sister was and I would tell her that she was home sleeping. and then she would go back to insisting on going upstairs to get her sister. it was very repetitive and there was no way of helping her understand what was going on and it was very sad. Personally, my grandmother is in end-stage alzheimer's. These people are basically just like big babies. They are incontinent and need to wear a diaper. They have very little motor control and are most often bedridden. They can't carry on a conversation and rarely talk at all. Here's a website that may be helpful for you.
http://www.alz.org/AboutAD/WhatIsAD.asp
good luck, and I'm sorry to hear about your mother.

Answer 2

My grandmother had it. It was truly difficult to watch a woman that I idolized and adored all my life forget most of her life.
Things she forgot in the beginning were things like which t.v programs she usually watched, and once she realized it wasn't her normal show she would get extremely upset and cry. I spent hours every week highlighting her programs in her t.v guide. I hated seeing my grandmother cry. Before alzheimers she would go for a walk and visit her neighbor down the road, we lived in the country, after her alzheimers progressed she had forgotten that neighbor was then deceased and when I went out to check on her she was gone. Her front door standing open and she was gone. My aunt, who is so out of touch couldn't begin to think where to find her, I found her walking back up the road from the neighbors house. She found a shirt lying on the road that day and I took it away from her. This woman NEVER raised a hand to me let alone a fist, but that day I thought she was going to knock my lights out for taking that nasty shirt away from her.
A few years after her diagnosis my grandfather passed away. She hardly remembered his passing, she expected him to pull up in the drive after work like he had done for 20 years or more. Two years after my grandfathers passing my mother passed, she would always ask me how mom was doing. I didn't want to upset her so I would tell her mom is fine and working hard as ever. Then it was like you'd see a light bulb come on and she would bust out crying and say it's not fair, a mother should die BEFORE her children.
In all honesty, alzheimers is a very difficult disease for both the person that has it and their family.
These are just a couple of experiences we had. There are so many more but too much to put here. All I can say is this will really try your patience, but don't be angry with her. She may not realize what she does or has done. Just be there if she is put into a home to make sure they don't abuse her. My grandmother WAS abused in a home, they tied her to her bed with her telephone line. Be there for her as much as you can. Hold her and comfort her as often as you can.
I wish you all the best.

Answer 3

My grandmother had it when she was about 75 years old. It got so bad that we had 24 hour care for her but even that wasn't enough. It is not a good thing. We put her in a nursing home which at that point, she didn't even know her own mother or grandkids, etc. Before we put her in a home, she would hide knives under her mattress, would not remember to use the restroom, therefore, she went in her bedroom and my mother who was taking care of her could not do it anymore....There is really alot that goes on and goes downhill and I am sure the meds today help some but not all. I am sorry to hear about your mother----whatever you do, just keep loving her even if she starts to really not know who you are, don't get mad at her for it. It is not her fault.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Check around your area for a Alzheimer support group.
usually hospitals will have this information for you, you just need to seek it out. There are allot of people on the same raft as you. But building a sail together you can go far, in the sea of forgetfulness.