my mum may have been aware thus causing her anxiety.I just dont know.
Upon her diagnosis I drove her home, and told my brother mum DOES have AD...we as a family tend to gloss over the reality and Mum was aware only that she had AD ...interpretation...memory problems
but looking back on that day I dont know if she had the faculties to comprehend what her future would be with AD...I doubt it
her best friend said she was "very scared"
certainly during her first respite she commented upon how "old and sick" her fellow residents were...my response
"oh you are not sick like them...you have just got alzheimers"
which seemed to reassure her.
I still dont know if she knows her fate...I believe and hope not.
to protect her, I will never tell her, and she is beyond asking.
fortunately I have medical POA so I can make the right decisions at the right time.
I cannnot begin to imagine how a person would deal with knowing all about dementia and being diagnosed with the same
It scares me and haunts me
some stupid finding reckons that if you exercise your mind by doing crosswords you diminish your chance of getting AD
my mum up until 8 months ago did the daily crossword and all the puzzles in the weekly mags
now she cannot even read....or get a glass of water or dress or shower
when I came home with the prescription for aricept for mum I jumped on the net and about 2 hours later I was DEVASTATED.
Mum at that point was 68 years young.
But Chris, unlike your Susan, mum never felt suicidal (or I never knew about it)
Stay Strong,
Hugs,
Jo