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Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 8:09:51 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		I brought grammy some pies yesderday.  She asked how my trip went coming in. [cross country] I said Gram, I bought a house across the river. She said- "thats right".  Later she asked if my sister came too.  [she lives out of state]  I wanted to cry.

Abit later she was reverring 3 of her uncles she said had committed suicide. She says she understands why.  Cos there are terrible people in the world. To which I agreed. She then told me that had she had the blank she would have committed suicided the other night.

It takes a special understanding to communicate with the aflicted.  I am thinking her sense of time is off. Her words sound recent- but likely this was 20 years ago.

Your story?
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 8:16:47 AM   
urtoy


Posts: 55
Joined: 4/23/2004
Status: offline 		My beloved mother had Alztheimer's before her death in 2001. As her caregiver, I had ample exposure to the ravages of this terrible disease, which not only affects cognitive functioning but can cause personality disturbances as well. In mama's case, she was often just plain mean.
It's heartbreaking watching the decline of a loved one. I've often thought that family members suffer more than the afflicted.
I'm sorry about your grammy's condition. Please let me know if I can offer you any support.

(in reply to pahunkboy)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 8:17:25 AM   
sub4hire


Posts: 6775
Joined: 1/1/2004
Status: offline 		She is alive and well, you get to share time with her.  So what her memory is off, she is old.

Put yourself in her position, how would you want your loved ones treating you?

Doug's grandma is the same way...she is also 92 years old.  About every 5 minutes she asks you the same thing she asked you again.  It's part of life when you get old. 
The good thing..their minds are sharper than ours are.  For past events anyway.
You can learn so much from them if you only give them the chance.  Listen to what they have to say.
Past events are in their minds like today is in ours.  Listen to them, what went on in their lives before you were born.  Have fun with them while you can.

(in reply to pahunkboy)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 9:06:31 AM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline 		Yeah, I like talking to older people and hearing what it was like during WW2 and The Great Depression.
Even my own memories from the 1950's are interesting.
The street I grew up on is an extremely busy street traffic-wise now.
I can remember in the 1950's when we used to play in that street.
There might be one car driving by every 6 or 8 minutes.
Now there'd be 2-300.

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"But Your Honor, this is not a Jury of my Peers, these people are all decent, honest, law-abiding citizens!"

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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 9:14:49 AM   
LadyEllen


Posts: 10931
Joined: 6/30/2006
From: Stourport-England
Status: offline 		My ex's grandmother had Alzheimer's for the last ten years of her life.

It started out being quite comical - daft little things that she knew were daft at that stage, being still capable of realising. But it stopped being funny real quick when her forgetfulness moved on to things which put her and others in danger. Despite her protests, she was moved in with her daughter so she could be cared for.

That lasted a few years, until the point came when her daughter - her only child, just couldnt cope any more. Not just the risks and the degree of care required, but as I feel, the fact that her mother's body was there, living and breathing, but her mother was long since dead and gone and a vacuum had taken up her space in that body. The heartbreak, even as a bystander, was incredible.

She was moved into a residential care home where the staff were better able to provide her with care. We visited, and yet we didnt, because she wasnt there, aside from those moments when I suspect, some faint glimmer of reality entered her broken mind and she would cry. No sounds, no words. Just tears.

When she died, I'm not ashamed to say it was the greatest mercy she could have been given.

Having seen it and the effects on the sufferer and their family, I've already told everyone who might need to know that if I'm ever diagnosed, I want to know (because often here, the sufferer is not informed), so that I can settle my affairs and go well before the end.

E

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In a test against the leading brand, 9 out of 10 participants couldnt tell the difference. Dumbasses.

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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 9:31:13 AM   
subfever


Posts: 2895
Joined: 5/22/2004
Status: offline 		When we stop and think about it, memories are all we really have. Take them all away, and we are just strangers living all alone in a strange world. 

(in reply to LadyEllen)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 9:55:14 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		Gram had told me fascinating family history. I wanted to get it on tape. But that is elusive.

A few years ago- mom took Gram to the DR for a check up and to treat the problem.  After many conversations of queitly nodding in agreement with gram; she went in with gram to the dr and told all. [tattle talelike] it was brilliant.  The dr perscribed paxel. gram said she doesnt want crazy pills.  Thankfully her condition hasnt declined. I had a neighbor that did not even know who she was....

(in reply to subfever)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 10:03:59 AM   
ravennfyre


Posts: 161
Joined: 6/23/2007
Status: offline
quote:

Yeah, I like talking to older people and hearing what it was like during WW2 and The Great Depression.


I love this, too. Our elders are walking encyclopedias. All of the progress we have made, they have lived through. Amazing!

My grandma has early stage Alzheimer's and her short term memory is shot. I have to introduce myself and my ums everytime we get together, and it's hard. It's hard to see her struggle...I can see it in her face that she knows that she SHOULD know who we are, but she just can't get it to process. She's on Aricept and it's helping some, but I know that it's just a temporary measure.

(in reply to popeye1250)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 12:12:20 PM   
LadyEllen


Posts: 10931
Joined: 6/30/2006
From: Stourport-England
Status: offline 		Channel 4 news (UK) just reported that author Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with early onset dementia

(its not a joke by the way)

just thought that what with so many fans here, might be worth passing on

E

_____________________________

In a test against the leading brand, 9 out of 10 participants couldnt tell the difference. Dumbasses.

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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 1:26:56 PM   
Zensee


Posts: 1564
Joined: 9/4/2004
Status: offline 		It is very heart breaking having a parent drift away in dementia.

In my father's case he also has bad hearing and hates his hearing aids. Since he still has lucid periods you are never sure if he is delusional or simply hasn't heard you clearly. The dementia is very isolating at a time when stimulation and contact is most important.

We try and get out to shows and events as much as possible - stimulation and interaction. Whether these are useful as treatment I don't know, but if they are enjoyed, does it matter?


Z.


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(in reply to LadyEllen)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 4:12:17 PM   
Rule


Posts: 10479
Joined: 12/5/2005
Status: offline 		Some time ago an article was published that asserted that Alzheimer was associated with some kind of herpes virus infection. Can anyone corroborate this from personal experience?

(in reply to Zensee)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 6:36:43 PM   
farglebargle


Posts: 10715
Joined: 6/15/2005
From: Albany, NY
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: LadyEllen

Channel 4 news (UK) just reported that author Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with early onset dementia

(its not a joke by the way)

just thought that what with so many fans here, might be worth passing on

E


I started a special thread just for this topic when I saw the website note. Can you guess which one it is?


_____________________________

It's not every generation that gets to watch a civilization fall. Looks like we're in for a hell of a show.

ברוך אתה, אדוני אלוקינו, ריבון העולמים, מי יוצר צמחים ריחניים

(in reply to LadyEllen)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 6:59:00 PM   
TheHeretic


Posts: 19100
Joined: 3/25/2007
From: California, USA
Status: offline 		       Dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia stories huh?  I've dealt with quite a number of elderly relatives whose minds went before their body.  A sense of humor comes in very handy.  My great-grandmother would have a grand time telling visitors about her conversation with President Lincoln... on their way to the moon, in the spaceship (no joke).  A great aunt simply vegetated in a chair for 10 years and her youngest daughter became a very bitter person, caring for her 'til the end.  One grandmother was afflicted with awful delusions of crime and violence all around her, the other...  Well the other might be a story worth telling.

     About six months after I moved to CA, I took a quick trip back to Oregon to clear up some pressing legal issues.  With some time to kill before catching my truck back, I called my Grandmother, told her I was in town and would come see her.  I arrived to find her bleeding from a small cut just above her eye.  She told me had bumped it on a cabinet.  While looking for the first aid kit, I heard a loud knocking, and then found myself doing exactly what the policeman said. 

      In the back of their car, I told them my story.  Three times.  The situation wasn't helped by my being in possession of a fully functional bit of carved wood, or that other legal matters I considered less pressing, had not been attended to.  It turned out that it helped considerably having only 11 cents in my pockets.  I sat there for a while, with neighbors in the seniors-only mobile home park peeking out their curtains at me.  An ambulance arrived.  A cop came back out after a time, and asked me a new, slightly more informed question.  My brother arrived to pick me up and drive me out to truck stop.  His credibility might have been damaged by also having a bit of carved wood and plenty of stuff to put in it, but at least the cops were now hearing two stories of her alcoholic dementia.  One asked if the handcuffs were too tight.

      It took the arrival of an aunt to get me out of that car.  Granny, it seems, had concocted a plan.  When she saw me walk through the gate, she dialed 911 and told them her good-for-nothing grandson was breaking in.  Then she nicked herself with the sewing scissors.  She told the police I had beaten her up and robbed her. 

      My aunt eventually got the story out of her.  I was her favorite grandchild, you see, and she didn't like that I had moved so far away.  In her pickled brain, having me arrested seemed like a good way to keep me around.

     Perhaps this sort of thing is why so many of the other relatives put butter on their bacon.

_____________________________

If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced.
That's why people with no sense of humor have such an inflated sense of self-importance.


(in reply to pahunkboy)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 7:13:39 PM   
MissMagnolia


Posts: 3636
Status: offline 		My dad has it. He had a massive IQ and could fix anything, and I mean anything, that was broken. He's almost like a little boy now, very dependant on my mum. He follows her around and asks the same questions 50 billion times a day. She gives him little jobs to do,  like dusting. He makes the coffee's and tea's for visitors. He still sometimes knows he's not like he used to be and gets angry. It only lasts a few minutes. He gets very emotional when I tell him I love him and what a fantastic dad he is. He cries easily. I don't think he'll know what Christmas is about next year, so each successive Christmas is more special, because I don't know how many more there are. Mum's nearly 80, so I treasure time with both of them.

Grab every second you can, whilst you can and love them as much as you can.

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Resident Whip Cracker AND Resident Orbs Of Joy.


(in reply to TheHeretic)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 9:14:56 PM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline 		My maternal grandmother lived to be 94 but the last 10 years of her life were spent in a nursing home.
I'd get letters from my mother when I was overseas in the Navy about how they'd catch her walking down the street at night and would have to bring her back to the house or the police would be cruising by and pick her up and she couldn't tell them where she lived.
She lived right next door to us.
I'd be in Italy or Greece and get letters from her and then they just stopped.
When I was home on leave I went to see her in the nursing home and she didn't know me. That's a strange feeling.
My other grandmother was funny as hell!
She was from Donegal, Ireland and had funny ways of saying things.
She had a thick Derry accent comming from Moeville.
One time I went to pick up one of those clay Boston Baked Bean pots that was cooling after being in the oven for four hours with no oven mitts and as I grabbed it I said, "SHIT! I forgot it was hot!"
She laughed and said, "Well you remembered pretty quick!"
She always had a lot of stories to tell about Ireland.
She was one of the lucky ones, sharp as a tack until the day she died at 87!
She always drank tea. I wonder if that helped?
She'd be 115 years old today if she were alive.
One time when she took a trip back over to Ireland she brought back a big rubber bullet in a shell casing that she told us the English Troops would shoot at the Irish.
Where or how she got it I never found out. She wouldn't say anything.

< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 12/12/2007 9:30:45 PM >

_____________________________

"But Your Honor, this is not a Jury of my Peers, these people are all decent, honest, law-abiding citizens!"

(in reply to MissMagnolia)
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RE: Dementia/alsheimer discussion here - 12/12/2007 10:20:58 PM   
adoracat


Posts: 1779
Joined: 2/16/2007
Status: offline 		my last grandparent passed easter sunday.  i had been to visit in march.  her hearing was bad, and she had parkinson's and mild dementia...she lived with my parents.

i'd tell her i loved her, and she'd say "good".  then it would sink in what i'd said, and she'd say "i love you too, wart".  my three cousins live literally within 100 yards of the house.  they hadnt seen her in a year.  *shakes head*  she was a pain in the ass, but she was my granny.

kitten, remembering.

(in reply to popeye1250)
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