Ease Your Mind wrote:
I am so sorry to hear that. My grandmother has it and I believe she's in the last stages. She's done the anger, "mean" thing. She repeats questions constantly, she doesn't remember how to operate certain things. (she tried to eat a tea bag once because she didn't know what it was for) She falls, she pees in random places in the house, she doesn't know she's a grandmother or even a mother. She talks about her childhood and where she used to live and she sees people outside. She also speaks complete nonsense. You just sort of have to nod your head and agree with her because she doesn't know.

It's such a heartbreaking disease. In one sense, it's good for them, because they're not aware of the negative, but no one wants to live like that. But it's hard on the loved ones because it's hard to accept that they no longer even know who we are when we love them SO much. They are no longer the person we once knew.

I watched that HBO thing... The Alzheimer's Project. It was quite interesting and I found myself in tears quite a few times as I watched.

And they do say it's sometimes best to keep them at home, as they tend to live a bit longer than if they're somewhere else. My grandma is still at home. I don't know how she's still around. I think she's hanging on to my grandpa. He's the one person she still knows, which is good. When one goes, I don't think the other will be too far behind.

=( My heart goes out to you.


Oh, that's so crazy to hear because we're about there! He did try to eat a teabag once! He's not incontinent yet (knock on wood!) but he'll put pretty much anything is his mouth! We have a mouse but we can't put out the stuff that will kill the mouse because he might eat it! It's becoming harder and harder to watch for me - he's my daddy. I can't even imagine what my mom is going through because at this point, I can't remember a time when he was "okay" - to her, she's loosing the person she loved - I didn't know him like that. I can understand the sweet person he was, but it doesn't come close to the person she knew for over 25 years. Sometimes I wish I knew who he was - back when I was a baby - but I feel I get a sense of it know, dealing with him.

The Alzheimer's Project on HBO, despite the great advertising it is getting for this disease - is not coming close to what is REALLY is - and that makes me sad because I really believe in Maria, and I honestly think that she knows what we are dealing with - it's just not showing it...