Hi, my name is Hilary and my mum (aged 80) was diagnosed with Alzheimers last year. My brothers and I noticed mum was getting forgetful about three years ago. When she said she didnt know her brother had died, we knew something was really wrong. She has always been a very independent woman and didnt want to bother her doctor, so we had to go behind her back and get the doctor to visit her (as he was passing!!). The 1st memory score she got (approximately 2 years ago) was 24 out of 30. She knew herself that something wasnt right, but had said to us if she was told there was something wrong with her she would kill herself. We had to therefore not take any further action. We left things as they were for a few months until she started getting worse. She agreed to see the "memory man" as we called him and got a score of 17 out of 30 that time. She was put on Aricept in August last year and the dose was doubled in October. The latest memory score she got last week was 9 out of 30. Her specialist said it is "severe deterioration" and so took her off the medication. He said to come back in 6 months unless we need to see him before! There are many things that are so hard for us, she doesnt recognise us as being her children. Sometimes to her we are those nice people who do lots of things for her. I try to remind myself its the illness, she cant help it, but it does hurt. Seeing her go through this torture is heartbreaking. I watched the "Dispatches" programme too last night and cried when the woman said she wanted her mum back. Its how we feel. It feels like we are on our own sometimes, but reading the posts from you all is helping us so much. We're not looking forward the future, but are taking one day at a time and cherishing the good times we have with mum. Sorry this is so long and thank you for being there xx