I have read a number of posts here. I have learnt a number of things that I have found useful for living with this disease. I think it is good to share. By sharing our experiences we all learn and benefit from real lived experiences and in some cases walk away with some answers or inspiration regarding someone’s post.
I thought I would share a philosophy I see through my lived experiences. I read a post once from someone living with dementia. Their comment was “there is no hope, no cure, why do anything about dementia we are going to die anyway.” For some reason I could not get this comment out of my mind. I thought about hope towards this for quite some time. I came to the conclusion hope boils down to how we see things. Here we have a diagnosis to a disease that has no cure and is difficult to live with. Yes we are going to die one day. Something else I couldn’t help but notice is life it’s self is terminal. So I think to myself how do we measure hope? How do we define hope?
I want to share what my definition of hope is. For me it boils down to live as well as I can with this disease, do what I have control over to meet this goal.
My doctor after diagnosing myself with Alzheimer’s prescribed a medication that would help me function at a higher level than what I was experiencing. It didn’t happen overnight but as time went on I started to realize the benefits from this and was able to continue work for some time to come. That gave me hope for a better quality of life
My doctor prescribed a vitamin regimen that through research had proven to benefit people with dementia. That gave me hope for a better quality of life.
My doctor suggested a diet called the mind diet. It is a spin off from the Mediterranean diet. Research once again has proven this diet helps as a proactive step to slow down the advance of this disease. That gave me hope for a better quality of life.
I have joined a gym and do daily exercises. Not just any exercises but weight training one day cardio the next day and so on. Research has proven this benefits people with dementia and helps slow down the progression of the disease. That gave me hope and I feel all the better for it.
I research my local Alzheimer’s society web page and read up on what is available for support, living well with the disease. They offer information on almost any aspect of dementia from caregiver support to tips and advice to live well with dementia. Highly recommend reaching out to your local Alzheimer’s society and take advantage all they have to offer to live better with this disease or for the caregiver who lives with this disease as much as we do. They inspire me and gives me hope.
I agreed to be a part of a drug trial. The hope is the medication will help with our cognitive abilities and actually slow down the progression of the disease. I get satisfaction knowing in my own small way am a part of an effort to improve the quality of life for millions if this is proven to help people with dementia.
No hope with Alzheimer’s / dementia? I think not. There are advances being made all the time. Just a matter of time before we will benefit from advances being made. Look around. There is credible information, advances and research towards steps to help us. Hope is all around us. You just have to see it. Yes, you guessed it, gives me hope.
I could go on with steps I am taking to get the most out of life but the point I am trying to make is anyone with dementia reading this, is you have a choice to make on how you deal with this. Perhaps you have been recently diagnosed with a form of dementia. Perhaps you have been living with this disease for a while. Doesn’t matter. My recommendation is grab the bull by the horns, get the most out of your time you have left to the best of your abilities by any means that works for you.
I get point A being diagnoses and point B end of life. We are all going to die at one point anyway, healthy or not. What I am interested is how we live our life between point A and B to the best of our ability for as long as we can. Having said that health issues aside, is something we can all aspire to achieve in life.
Think I will go out and enjoy the day and do something fun to the best of my abilities. After all when it is all said and done it’s all about enjoying life the best way we can isn’t it?
Warm regards,
Roger
I thought I would share a philosophy I see through my lived experiences. I read a post once from someone living with dementia. Their comment was “there is no hope, no cure, why do anything about dementia we are going to die anyway.” For some reason I could not get this comment out of my mind. I thought about hope towards this for quite some time. I came to the conclusion hope boils down to how we see things. Here we have a diagnosis to a disease that has no cure and is difficult to live with. Yes we are going to die one day. Something else I couldn’t help but notice is life it’s self is terminal. So I think to myself how do we measure hope? How do we define hope?
I want to share what my definition of hope is. For me it boils down to live as well as I can with this disease, do what I have control over to meet this goal.
My doctor after diagnosing myself with Alzheimer’s prescribed a medication that would help me function at a higher level than what I was experiencing. It didn’t happen overnight but as time went on I started to realize the benefits from this and was able to continue work for some time to come. That gave me hope for a better quality of life
My doctor prescribed a vitamin regimen that through research had proven to benefit people with dementia. That gave me hope for a better quality of life.
My doctor suggested a diet called the mind diet. It is a spin off from the Mediterranean diet. Research once again has proven this diet helps as a proactive step to slow down the advance of this disease. That gave me hope for a better quality of life.
I have joined a gym and do daily exercises. Not just any exercises but weight training one day cardio the next day and so on. Research has proven this benefits people with dementia and helps slow down the progression of the disease. That gave me hope and I feel all the better for it.
I research my local Alzheimer’s society web page and read up on what is available for support, living well with the disease. They offer information on almost any aspect of dementia from caregiver support to tips and advice to live well with dementia. Highly recommend reaching out to your local Alzheimer’s society and take advantage all they have to offer to live better with this disease or for the caregiver who lives with this disease as much as we do. They inspire me and gives me hope.
I agreed to be a part of a drug trial. The hope is the medication will help with our cognitive abilities and actually slow down the progression of the disease. I get satisfaction knowing in my own small way am a part of an effort to improve the quality of life for millions if this is proven to help people with dementia.
No hope with Alzheimer’s / dementia? I think not. There are advances being made all the time. Just a matter of time before we will benefit from advances being made. Look around. There is credible information, advances and research towards steps to help us. Hope is all around us. You just have to see it. Yes, you guessed it, gives me hope.
I could go on with steps I am taking to get the most out of life but the point I am trying to make is anyone with dementia reading this, is you have a choice to make on how you deal with this. Perhaps you have been recently diagnosed with a form of dementia. Perhaps you have been living with this disease for a while. Doesn’t matter. My recommendation is grab the bull by the horns, get the most out of your time you have left to the best of your abilities by any means that works for you.
I get point A being diagnoses and point B end of life. We are all going to die at one point anyway, healthy or not. What I am interested is how we live our life between point A and B to the best of our ability for as long as we can. Having said that health issues aside, is something we can all aspire to achieve in life.
Think I will go out and enjoy the day and do something fun to the best of my abilities. After all when it is all said and done it’s all about enjoying life the best way we can isn’t it?
Warm regards,
Roger
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