I never thought i would be on this site writing about the loss of someone so dear to me. I lost my nanny only a week ago. She was 82 and had suffered with this awful disease for almost 11 years. Although she had been totally stripped of her personality she still managed to maintain her dignity, right to the end.
I am 21 yrs old and have always been close to my nan, she looked after me as a child and was a fantastic nan, mother, aunt and wife.
She first began showing signs of alzheimers a long time ago when she began forgetting things like the number bus that took her to her daughters house. On one occassion she walked for 5 miles on foot to get there as she couldnt remember the number bus she needed. Occassions such as this became more regular as time went on and she became worse and worse, forgetting who her sons and daughter were. My grandfather acted as her career, of which he did a great job as he managed to maintain her well being for such a long time.
The end to my nans life was a tragic time that was full of ups and downs. We went on holiday as we did every year, all 14 of us including my nan and grandad. On the second day of our holiday my nan tripped over a step and broke her hip and arm. She had an operation for a hip replacememt that went well and all seemed okay. She was full of life and never stopped singing the whole time she was in hospital. She loved songs as she found it hard to hold a conversation she just sang all the time (i loved her songs). She was transferred to hospital here and soon stopped eating as nurses refused to feed her. We did all we could and i along with other family members managed to get her to eat small amounts everyday. I found it hard to feed her as she never wanted to stop singing to eat. The last few days of her life she was totally out of character, shed stopped singing and had kept her eyes closed for almost 3 whole days till it came to the time she passed away. To this day i still cant understand how she went from being so active to almost being comatosed.
She will be very sadly missed, im glad that she isnt suffering anymore however I would give anything to be with her again and to hear her happy songs once more. I understand everyone on this site is or has been through something similar but ive never known pain like this. I keep it locked in mostly as im the sensitive but strong one of the family.
I want to thank my grandad for the fantastic job he did of caring for my nan and I also want to share my thanks to all other careers out there as those you look after need desperiatly need your help.
I am 21 yrs old and have always been close to my nan, she looked after me as a child and was a fantastic nan, mother, aunt and wife.
She first began showing signs of alzheimers a long time ago when she began forgetting things like the number bus that took her to her daughters house. On one occassion she walked for 5 miles on foot to get there as she couldnt remember the number bus she needed. Occassions such as this became more regular as time went on and she became worse and worse, forgetting who her sons and daughter were. My grandfather acted as her career, of which he did a great job as he managed to maintain her well being for such a long time.
The end to my nans life was a tragic time that was full of ups and downs. We went on holiday as we did every year, all 14 of us including my nan and grandad. On the second day of our holiday my nan tripped over a step and broke her hip and arm. She had an operation for a hip replacememt that went well and all seemed okay. She was full of life and never stopped singing the whole time she was in hospital. She loved songs as she found it hard to hold a conversation she just sang all the time (i loved her songs). She was transferred to hospital here and soon stopped eating as nurses refused to feed her. We did all we could and i along with other family members managed to get her to eat small amounts everyday. I found it hard to feed her as she never wanted to stop singing to eat. The last few days of her life she was totally out of character, shed stopped singing and had kept her eyes closed for almost 3 whole days till it came to the time she passed away. To this day i still cant understand how she went from being so active to almost being comatosed.
She will be very sadly missed, im glad that she isnt suffering anymore however I would give anything to be with her again and to hear her happy songs once more. I understand everyone on this site is or has been through something similar but ive never known pain like this. I keep it locked in mostly as im the sensitive but strong one of the family.
I want to thank my grandad for the fantastic job he did of caring for my nan and I also want to share my thanks to all other careers out there as those you look after need desperiatly need your help.