My Mom has Alzheimer Disease.
Since that day, we have all stepped up on reading and learning about the disease, in between juggling the new reality of caring for my mother. It's been a slow change, yet when I look back on it, count back the days and events that I can remember over the last few years, I realize it's going really fast. I have especially become aware in the last few weeks and days how quickly this disease is taking my mother away. It's an adjustment for her and for the family. The changes in her behavior and thinking processes started subtly and are gradually snowballing into deeper shifting. The changes in my thinking are changing quickly, as well.
When I got home from the visit to the neurologist, and after I filled in my partner with the details of the day over a glass of wine, ate dinner, watched my program on television, took a nap on the couch, then did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, I realized that I should be keeping better track of this whole process. I've been really bad at writing down the events, distracted by own life and idle practices, so tonight, I've decided to start this fresh blog. I'm not sure how much I'll go into the past history, but for myself, I would like to post about some of the key moments in this journey into dementia with my Mom.
One of the saddest parts that all caregivers share, I suppose, is watching your loved one slowly disappear. I am just now reading more about this disease (thank you, internet), and probably tomorrow, I will join the discussion board on alz.org. I would like to keep this blog separate from my other blog in order to give me a mission here. I hope to keep track of the events and trails and tribulations in this journey, as well as vent my future fears, frustration and sadness. I also hope to post small moments of joy and success, as I am learning how to look for these moments and cherish them.
Next post, I hope to go into a bit more history and some of the key moments that led us to this point today.
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| Driving to the neurologist's office today. |
4 comments:
Thanks for this blog, Kate. It's great that you're doing it, and yes, it's a very sad happening. Just for the record, your Mom and I first visited Dr. D. on August 17, 2010, and the MRI brain scan was done on August 25. I was told that results would not be available for several days but when I called after several days I was told only that her brain had not suffered any strokes and that we could discuss with Dr. D. the other results at our next visit, October 20. In the meantime, Mom had a visit with Dr. N., our primary care physician, on Sept. 28. I believe I had previously asked him for a report from Dr. D. but in any case early in October we got the one page results of the brain scan. We were phoned first from Dr. N.'s office with the key findings. The only non-normal finding was the "significant atrophy of the hippocampi". This is always the first stage in Alzheimer's Dementia (AD). (There are several other forms of dementia.) It was pretty obvious that Mom had AD prior to this finding, but this finding sealed it. Still, the doctors hesitate to use the word Alzheimer's and prefer "progressive memory loss".
Just a slight correction to my comment above: I said "It was pretty obvious that Mom had AD prior to this finding". What I should have said was: "It was pretty obvious Mom had some kind of dementia prior to this finding." For example, she could have had small strokes in the brain which would also have caused a dementia.
Great, thanks for getting those dates and facts right for me. I don't know why, but I feel like it's important to try and get this all straight. Perhaps it will help us feel a bit more in control in this very uncontrollable condition that Mom, and indirectly we, are now suffering from.
That's right, Kate. It gives us a feeling of control and understanding in a very uncontrollable situation.
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