Hello there,
I'm new to this forum although I have replied to a couple of posts in the past few days. My Mum is in her 70's, has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimers. At Christmas she was very poorly, had 3 blood transfusions and was also diagnosed with Crohn's disease (inflammation of the bowel) she will have this for the rest of her life too Things have settled down thankfully, she is now eating like a horse again and she has more energy. Her memory is a bit haphazard, there have been a few dramas but nothing really to complain about. She is ok in a familar situation but not when she's unsure of things.
Although, I'm trying my best to be positive, I'm finding myself in tears over the past week and I'm not usually like this. I don't know if it's because my Dad died exactly 2 years ago from cancer. It was cruel and nasty, he suffered for far too long and right now, I really miss him. It hit my Mum really bad and I feel angry that life keeps throwing such bad cards at her. When she was in hospital, she was trying to help the other patients, she fed a lady who had had a stroke and comforted her, she made lots of friends even though she was so sick herself. My Mum is a fighter and will be right to the end.
I have noticed a few changes over the past few months. My Mum sometimes loses track of conversations, she's fine with myself and my husband but if someone phones her up and she doesn't know them, she will throw the phone at me. She says she "can't really hear them" but I suspect she can't process the information. She has been repeating herself quite recently and quite forgetful although yesterday at the memory clinic she suprised me when she quite proudly said "Nice to see you Dr McConnell. I even remembered your name!" Even though she has only met him 4 times. It made me smile, that's my Mum trying hard to fight this evil disease. She said to me in the waiting room beforehand "I wonder of he's going to ask me all those silly questions again?" Bless her, I think she was trying to remember the answers and be ready for him
Mum agreed to go along to the clinic again so return in June. At that time, they will review her Aricept and if her stomach is still ok, they will increase it to 10mg. I really feel for her, so many other tablets. I fill up her doset box each week, it's a good plan so far and helps her a lot. At the moment she is living alone, I live nearby and see her about 5 days a week. She goes out to the day centre and to see her friend on another day. I am lucky that I still have this precious time with her, it scares me all the other stuff I have been reading. I hope we have many more years like this but I have noticed the little changes and she isn't well. Her hair has become very grey recently, she has definitely slowed down with her walking. It really frightens me what may lay ahead, although I know I should live for the now. I suppose in a way, I have started to grieve for my Mum too, I have already been through it once and it wasn't that long ago. I never really grieved properly for my dear father, I was too numb and went through that time on autopilot and disbelief but when I think of them both together, it makes me cry. I wish there were lots of magic pills to cure all these horrible diseases. And a time machine
Does Alzheimers go up and down? I mean, is it common to have good days where my Mum is remembering lots and then bad days of sheer confusion and disorder/panic? Mum was very disorientated when we took her on holiday last year although she was undiagnosed with Crohn's at the time and she thought she had cancer. She was also very confused when we went to France for an overnight trip. I wish they were all wrong about the Alzheimers diagnosis. It really does scare me. I'd be really grateful with anyone sharing their thoughts...thank you for reading.
I'm new to this forum although I have replied to a couple of posts in the past few days. My Mum is in her 70's, has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimers. At Christmas she was very poorly, had 3 blood transfusions and was also diagnosed with Crohn's disease (inflammation of the bowel) she will have this for the rest of her life too Things have settled down thankfully, she is now eating like a horse again and she has more energy. Her memory is a bit haphazard, there have been a few dramas but nothing really to complain about. She is ok in a familar situation but not when she's unsure of things.
Although, I'm trying my best to be positive, I'm finding myself in tears over the past week and I'm not usually like this. I don't know if it's because my Dad died exactly 2 years ago from cancer. It was cruel and nasty, he suffered for far too long and right now, I really miss him. It hit my Mum really bad and I feel angry that life keeps throwing such bad cards at her. When she was in hospital, she was trying to help the other patients, she fed a lady who had had a stroke and comforted her, she made lots of friends even though she was so sick herself. My Mum is a fighter and will be right to the end.
I have noticed a few changes over the past few months. My Mum sometimes loses track of conversations, she's fine with myself and my husband but if someone phones her up and she doesn't know them, she will throw the phone at me. She says she "can't really hear them" but I suspect she can't process the information. She has been repeating herself quite recently and quite forgetful although yesterday at the memory clinic she suprised me when she quite proudly said "Nice to see you Dr McConnell. I even remembered your name!" Even though she has only met him 4 times. It made me smile, that's my Mum trying hard to fight this evil disease. She said to me in the waiting room beforehand "I wonder of he's going to ask me all those silly questions again?" Bless her, I think she was trying to remember the answers and be ready for him
Mum agreed to go along to the clinic again so return in June. At that time, they will review her Aricept and if her stomach is still ok, they will increase it to 10mg. I really feel for her, so many other tablets. I fill up her doset box each week, it's a good plan so far and helps her a lot. At the moment she is living alone, I live nearby and see her about 5 days a week. She goes out to the day centre and to see her friend on another day. I am lucky that I still have this precious time with her, it scares me all the other stuff I have been reading. I hope we have many more years like this but I have noticed the little changes and she isn't well. Her hair has become very grey recently, she has definitely slowed down with her walking. It really frightens me what may lay ahead, although I know I should live for the now. I suppose in a way, I have started to grieve for my Mum too, I have already been through it once and it wasn't that long ago. I never really grieved properly for my dear father, I was too numb and went through that time on autopilot and disbelief but when I think of them both together, it makes me cry. I wish there were lots of magic pills to cure all these horrible diseases. And a time machine
Does Alzheimers go up and down? I mean, is it common to have good days where my Mum is remembering lots and then bad days of sheer confusion and disorder/panic? Mum was very disorientated when we took her on holiday last year although she was undiagnosed with Crohn's at the time and she thought she had cancer. She was also very confused when we went to France for an overnight trip. I wish they were all wrong about the Alzheimers diagnosis. It really does scare me. I'd be really grateful with anyone sharing their thoughts...thank you for reading.