Anyone here have someone in their life who had Alzheimer's?

[pr_capone]

Just found out that my grandmother was diagnosed with alzheimer's last week. She is a proud woman and is stubbornly ignoring the issue and refuses to talk about it. We don't know how severe it is at this point nor how aggressive the disease is because she won't tell anyone.

Anyone here have someone go through this? Looking around on the net for info but I'd prefer firsthand accounts.

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks

[soundmind]

It's a regrettable situation indeed. My grandmother is currently dealing with this, and she's just bitter all the time - she can't tell you why of course, but when she does, it's usually terribly inappropriate. The nicer times are things like telling you she's ready for lunch at 8:30am, convinced she's had breakfast (do not try to correct her, she gets PISSED). My dad still goes to see her every few days, and I'm not sure how....she mixes up his name with his brothers, tells him "he never comes to see her", it's heart-breaking, but it's his mom, so he continues.

One thing specific to her that I've not seen yet was her daily routine. She slowly but surely committed to eating Tomato soup exclusively. The help at the nursing home has to find a new way everyday to get a protein shake in her in the AM, otherwise its just tomato soup. You can imagine what that does to your gums and everything with false teeth and whatnot.

The last time I visited, she called me Benjamin and told me I should just go back to Boston - which was actually an improvement (even though I've never been to Boston, and my name is certainly not Benjamin)....typically she'd just look at me and nod. I can't go back really, it's a lot to witness.

Needless to say, it's a heart-wrencher, I wish you and yours the best.

[Jilly]

One time, my grandma, this was before we knew it was this serious, came in and told us all the street signs had been moved. We took her keys shortly after that. But I still can't help but snicker at it a little. Sometimes it was the only way we could cope.

[HemiEd]

My Mother is beginning of stage 3 right now. It is very sad and sorry to hear about your Grandmother.

[bobbymitch]

My condolences. The Bosslady's mother has it. She used to have the most remarkable memory. She could tell you what you or she wore during a function years ago. She used to be able recall the minutia that most of us couldn't care about.

Nowadays, she will ask you the same question over and over again, can't remember what happened last week, and gets frustrated easily.

A set routine works well for her but any break in it will cause her to throw a fit.

[EyePod]

It's going to be extremely tough. My gf's grandmother had it, and I've been with my gf through the whole process. We'd visit her and she'd just smile and nod the whole time. She would call her daughters and think she was talking to her sisters. She forgot who her husband was and called him a strange person.

She finally passed away, and almost everyone is dealing well with it. But this did bring about some terrible mental issues that my gf's mother has, and we're still hoping she can get some closure, move on, and stop thinking that everyone is trying to kill her.

And this isn't even my direct family....

[Groves]

My dad was diagnosed with it in his late 50s, about 4 years ago. He's more than half way down the slope. Still recognizes us, but it's slipping. I'll see him in Heaven, in many ways we'll meet for the first time there. I think I could fit every word he's ever said to me on one page of paper. We'll make up for lost time.

[splatbass]

My mother has it. I went back to Missouri a couple of weeks ago to visit (she lives with my sister) and when she answered the door she said to my sister "some man is here". It is quite a jolt when your mother doesn't recognize you. Of course a few minutes later she was fine, it comes and goes.

[Mosbonian]

My Mother suffered from Dementia the last 3 years of her life till she passed away last September...it's actually still too soon for me to talk about everything considering I had to go thru it all alone. My brothers wanted nothing to do with her and left me with all the hard decisions....I still cry knowing that my Mom breathed her last breath in the company of strangers.

My heart goes out to you...may you find comfort in the words that have been written here by your/my/our friends.

mmaddog
*******

[wutamess]

My grandmother has it... Lives with my mother since my grandpa died Sept of last year.
Ask the same questions every 1-2 minutes. Call my mothers siblings 4-5 times an hour telling them to come get her.

Funniest thing though... We're all watching T.V. all of a sudden the channels change. We look around like WTF? It's her with the remote to her ear (because she thinks it's the phone). We just laugh it off. She never realizes that it's not a phone.

[Blick]

My grandma has had it for several years now. I'm not sure exactly how many years, but it's been a while. She's at the point where she doesn't know who anyone is, and she is not very talkative when she is around. My grandpa put her in an assisted living center because he couldn't really take care of her anymore. My grandpa still visits her quite a bit and brings her out to see family sometimes.

I'm just glad that I'm old enough to have memories of her when she was healthy. She was a really great woman, and it's pretty sad to see what she is like now. I feel bad for my cousins, who are little, because they didn't get a chance to see her when she was healthy.

[ShortRoundChief]

I'm sorry to hear this. May god bless you both and make your time as gentle as possible.

[tmax63]

My Uncle Hugh died with Alheimer's. He was an old bachelor and he got lost driving home from town one day and it scared him enough to go assisted living. He just drifted away, never got mean or anything. Did speak to anyone or recognize anybody for close to the last year. Guess we were lucky compared to some of the folks here.