It’s in my family. I don’t know if it’s an inherited thing or not but it scares me. I have witnessed two aunts die with this terrible disease, they were my mothers sister and my fathers sister. However, my mother is 87 years old and while forgetful on occasion, it’s not that bad.
Huh? I have alzheimer’s in my family so I can relate. But I must say you may wish to write out your vanity in complete and clear sentences so people can understand what you’re trying to say.
Yes, it is very sad mojo, I took care of my dad who had it for years.
Is it your sister with Alzheimer’s disease?
My wonderful father, the kind of person who puts the “human” in humanitarian, is in assisted care because of Alzheimer’s. I talk to him daily and take him home with me often.
I know this probably sounds facile, but I think you have to be philosophical about it. He’s had a great life. He’s like George Bailey - no one could ask for more. So now he’s slowly fading away, but he has amazing hallucinations that he enjoys telling us about, and days when his memory is clear as a bell. When that happens, my siblings and I jump in to remind him of all the happiness he’s given us. We even try to see the humorous side of the incontinence issue, and laugh with him about it. It helps.
I sincerely hope your sister finds comfort in God and her family around her. I’m wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas.
I believe Alzheimer’s is among the ugliest of diseases as it robs people...especially the elderly...of their most prized possessions...that being of of fond memories and their dignity.
I recall taking my Mother to get her hair “fixed” while she was in a nursing home. She had been a beautician for over 30 years and was picky about how her hair looked. I sat across the room from her and watched her sitting underneath the hair dryer...mostly nodding and barely able to keep her head up...and then she slightly looked up at me and smiled. I saw a slight spark in her eyes I hadn’t seen for over a year...and would never see again. She died from this terrible disease 3 years later. And my siblings and I had to make a gut-wrenching decision about whether we should put her on life support.
Alzheimer’s will be an epidemic in the years to come. And many families will be exposed to this terrible disease. I pray that there will be medical break-thoughs in diagnosis and treatment.
Very important to take daily vitamin supplements of B6, B12 and folic acid.
Yes.
It is dreary, distressing . . .
especially given that the disease tends to take their best traits and leave their worst.
But, it can also give us lessons in loving strong and strong willed people who were fiercely independent almost to a fault, as well.
Sometimes changing diapers is not just a cuddly baby goo goo geechi gah gah loving sweetness. But, it can still be a full of sacrificial servant hearted love time.
If we aren’t here to learn to love REGARDLESS, then I think I may have missunderstood the script.
While he could fight off diabetes and a resulting heart condition, he could not fight Alzheimer’s Disease. I remember those last several months with great sadness. He wasn’t the man that inspired our family for so long.
As a result I started a FReeper team for Folding@home, a group project dedicated to finding a cure for many diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. We use our computers when idle to search for a cure.
Most old timers have seen the threads that we start for Folding@home, but if anyone has a computer or a PS3 that can donate time on the system we would love to have you join our merry band of brothers.
The latest two threads are here, with instructions on the second thread. As always, FReepmail me with any questions.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929553/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1906532/posts
Thanks for the time. Remember, the research that you contribute could lead to a healing for someone you love.
My mother has Alzheimer’s and Dementia. My sister and I have agreed to keep her out of a nursing home for as long as possible. I’m the one who is taking care of her.
I get her out of bed, bathe her, feed her. My sister comes over and help’s to put her to bed.
She’s 85.
Not sure how much longer I can do this, been doing it for three years. But, she’s my mom. She gave me life, now it’s pay back time.
Gotta go.
Six years ago, I began driving a taxi in SF. One of my first fares was a neuropsychologist. I asked her what the most interesting thing happening in her field was. She said that within six to eight years – ten tops – there would be a cure for Alzheimer’s.
A couple of months later a venture capitalist who specializes in biotech got in my cab. I told him what she said. He scoffed that the neuropsychologist was delusional, that it would take the Food & Drug Administration at least ten years to approve any drug. In other words, he had no intention of investing in an Alzheimer’s cure.
A couple weeks after that I had a lawyer in my taxi who specialized in legal issues dealing with AIDS cures. I spoke to her about the disagreement between the neuropsychologist and the VC. She pointed out that Alzheimer’s has two potential cures. One will be for folks who are identified at a young age - possibly in their teens. That one could take a couple lifetimes to test.
However, cures are also being developed for people who are suffering right now. For them, she said that the FDA would fast-track a treatment, like they now do for AIDS, and it would take only a year.
A few months later, an Alzheimer’s researcher told me that his company had cured the disease in mice, but that when it went to human trials it caused encephalitis, which could be lethal. They had to quit.
Months later I drove an MD to the airport. I told him the story. He claimed to have been up for Surgeon General in the Clinton Administration and that the researcher was really not offering any hope. His reasoning was that scientists have no idea what Alzheimer’s even is. When they claim to cure it in rodents, they are guessing that they have even produced it in the mice to begin with.
Then another VC – after several more months – got into my taxi. He agreed with the MD. His comment was that half of all cancer researchers can cure it in mice, but fail with humans.
A few more months went by. I happened to get the researcher back in the taxi and told him what the MD and VC said. His answer was that one of the test subjects had died – not from their experiment. When they did an autopsy, her Alzheimer’s had been cured.
A few months after that, I drove a lawyer who works with bio-tech and venture capitalists. I told her what I had found out. She said that it was true that a successful drug had been developed but that the encephalitis problem caused cash for further enquiry to dry up.
Well, last Christmas, two women got in my cab. As I drove them to the airport, I asked them what they do for a living. They said that they were both brain researchers. I began telling them the above story. They interrupted me and said that they both worked for Elan, the company that had cured Alzheimer’s in mice. According to them, more than one autopsy had been done on humans to confirm that the drug works. Better yet, Elan believes that it has solved the encephalitis problem and that they were - as we spoke - in human trials.
I do not yet know if the trials have been completed. To be honest those women were strangers in a cab, but they seemed like the real deal.
You might check out this web site, especially the pics of mice brains before and after their drug: http://www.elan.com/research_development/Alzheimers/Default.asp
Further, my advice is to spend as much time as you need to (possibly a couple hundred hours) to get as deeply into the who, what, when, where and why of what researchers are thinking and working on.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) would be a good place to begin.
Good luck.
There is a lot of confusion about diagnosis of Alzheimers and other dementias. Make sure she gets a good evaluation, if you can.... and if you don’t think the Dr has thoroughly examined her get her to another.
FIL G had what they called Alzheimer’s, but we never thought it was. He never got worse, never got combative, never wandered, never forgot us or who he was. It was just an easy out for the Dr. and couldn’t be proved or disproved until after his death. We believe he suffered from permanent short term memory loss as a result of anemia caused by a B vitamin shortage.
You could set a plate of cookies in front of him and he would say “ I believe I’ll have a cookie!” Five minutes later he would sat the same thing, and on and on until they were gone, if you didn’t remove them. He forgot he had eaten one or more! But he could tell you the formula for aluminum, and what he did as a boy, and knew where he was.
Because of a legal battle with the wicked step sibs we had to fight to get him out of an Alzheimer’s ward. He would ask us why he was locked up in a crazy ward. (Thank God we finally got him out) It is heartbreaking to watch, but there can be improvements, both with proper diagnosis and also examining what medicines they are taking. FIL G improved a lot when we removed 5 un-necessary drugs from his regimin.
My Grandmother had Alzheimer’s. It was terrible and I think it must be one of the worst things that could happen to you, to lose your mind. She did seem to do better with things in the distant past. She could talk with you at length about her childhood, for example.
It is almost 1:00AM on the East Coast so I need to go to bed. I will appreciate responses and respond in the morning.
My dad just died in May. He had Alzheimers and early Dementia, but it was lung cancer that killed him.
I take care of mom 24/7 except for three days a week when we have a CNA come in for four hours.
The blank stare is hard to take, not knowing who I or my sister are.
The morning is the best time, because she can stand using both arms and legs, but I have to stay calm. If I get anxious, she get’s confused and nervious, then it can go south.
Can’t change the routine or throw something new at her.
Thank you all for the support and kind words. I wish modern medicine could find a cure for this horrible disease.
~Prayers~