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Posts: 54622
05/27/2009 11:50 PM
Posts: 1096
05/27/2009 11:54 PM
franknbeans82 wrote: i'm really sorry. i am dealing w/ it w/ my grandma. i guess it's not quite the same since i've never spent a great deal of time w/ her. i was closer to her when i was younger. i didn't even know she had it until we went to her 80th bday party last yr, and she had no idea whose bday it was, who the presents were, who anyone was, etc. it made me very regretful that i didn't spend more time w/ her in the past. :/
Posts: 2711
05/27/2009 11:56 PM
05/27/2009 11:57 PM
Posts: 16616
05/27/2009 11:59 PM
une reine wrote: Not appropriate, but this kid on my bus thinks it's Old Timer's disease. That is horrible. I remember my grandmother was watching tv and thought we were actually at the baseball game and kept asking me to get the popcorn.
05/28/2009 12:05 AM
franknbeans82 wrote: to me, it almost feels like the person is already deceased b/c who they were is gone, at least in extreme cases. i'm sure even the touch and go cases are very difficult to swallow during the bad times.
05/28/2009 12:08 AM
Triple X Tera wrote: Alzheimers is hard, I've never totally had to deal with it family wise but I do deal with it with a customer at my work. I work at a restaurant and he usually comes in everyday during the day. Some days he doesn't remember us, others he does. He still thinks it's like 1970 and goes on about his wife (who has long passed). He's one of my favorite people ever because he is so sweet and innocent and its so sad when he comes in for the 2nd time of the day and doesn't remember that he had been there earlier. He remembers me more now cause he knows that we share a birthday, so when he sees me he reminds me that our birthdays are coming up. His thing is when he comes in and we say "Hey Normy, how ya doing" he responds with "better now!" so the day he stops doing that is the day we know we need to be more worried about him. He never fails us with his better now! lol Again, never had to deal with it family wise so I hope you can just get in your time and i know that this is a really tough disease to deal with so my heart goes out to you.
05/28/2009 12:14 AM
05/28/2009 12:22 AM
une reine wrote: My grandmother thought my Dad was still 15 and was wondering why he was home. He went to a military high school in a different state. It was cute though. She's like, "you've gotten so big and muscular!"
05/28/2009 12:24 AM
Posts: 373
05/28/2009 12:32 AM
05/28/2009 12:42 AM
Triple X Tera wrote: taradise wrote: Triple X Tera wrote: Alzheimers is hard, I've never totally had to deal with it family wise but I do deal with it with a customer at my work. I work at a restaurant and he usually comes in everyday during the day. Some days he doesn't remember us, others he does. He still thinks it's like 1970 and goes on about his wife (who has long passed). He's one of my favorite people ever because he is so sweet and innocent and its so sad when he comes in for the 2nd time of the day and doesn't remember that he had been there earlier. He remembers me more now cause he knows that we share a birthday, so when he sees me he reminds me that our birthdays are coming up. His thing is when he comes in and we say "Hey Normy, how ya doing" he responds with "better now!" so the day he stops doing that is the day we know we need to be more worried about him. He never fails us with his better now! lol Again, never had to deal with it family wise so I hope you can just get in your time and i know that this is a really tough disease to deal with so my heart goes out to you. Just know you are a good person for dealing with it - along with your company. There are a lot of people out there that don't understand the disease. We're striving for a day where people can understand it...you're there, so I really just want to say thank you. I absolutely love this man and we all know his struggle and we're actually there for him more than his own family. I love when he comes in cause he brightens up my day because he is just so sweet and innocent. We actually provide him with lunch when he comes in because we know that he can't afford it...I really wish everyone was this kind and passionate with people struggling with this disease because they really don't know whats going on around them
taradise wrote: Triple X Tera wrote: Alzheimers is hard, I've never totally had to deal with it family wise but I do deal with it with a customer at my work. I work at a restaurant and he usually comes in everyday during the day. Some days he doesn't remember us, others he does. He still thinks it's like 1970 and goes on about his wife (who has long passed). He's one of my favorite people ever because he is so sweet and innocent and its so sad when he comes in for the 2nd time of the day and doesn't remember that he had been there earlier. He remembers me more now cause he knows that we share a birthday, so when he sees me he reminds me that our birthdays are coming up. His thing is when he comes in and we say "Hey Normy, how ya doing" he responds with "better now!" so the day he stops doing that is the day we know we need to be more worried about him. He never fails us with his better now! lol Again, never had to deal with it family wise so I hope you can just get in your time and i know that this is a really tough disease to deal with so my heart goes out to you. Just know you are a good person for dealing with it - along with your company. There are a lot of people out there that don't understand the disease. We're striving for a day where people can understand it...you're there, so I really just want to say thank you.
Posts: 3411
05/28/2009 12:44 AM
05/28/2009 12:46 AM
RoswellStacy636 wrote: Both my grandmas had Alzheimers...and I helped take care of one of them for 8 years. It's such an awful process to watch and be present for. However, know that being present for them is SO important. My family believes that if we put my grandma in a home, she wouldn't have lived even a year. The fact that you can share laughter is amazing...and even though he can't remember your name, you're positively impacting his life. That's something that he'll remember in his soul, even when he can't remember it in his mind.
05/28/2009 12:57 AM
taradise wrote: RoswellStacy636 wrote: Both my grandmas had Alzheimers...and I helped take care of one of them for 8 years. It's such an awful process to watch and be present for. However, know that being present for them is SO important. My family believes that if we put my grandma in a home, she wouldn't have lived even a year. The fact that you can share laughter is amazing...and even though he can't remember your name, you're positively impacting his life. That's something that he'll remember in his soul, even when he can't remember it in his mind. It's nice to see someboday that understands...it's so scary to put him in a home. He's going to have to go there in the next year because I can't handle it and neither can my mom - I need to move on with my life and so does she. It's just hard because I don't want him to go someplace that will just sedate him in order to not have any problems...you know?
05/28/2009 1:19 AM
Laurenette wrote: Aw, my grandparents had it as well. One had the "nice" kind, where they just happily live in the past for years, and never get too upset over their confusion - they just don't know who you are. My grandma had the "bad" kind where she had horrible delusions and saw witches and stuff. It's hard either way. There is a REALLY good documentary series on HBO right now if you have it, and part of it is about caregivers and stuff and you can see how people deal with it. I recommend the whole series for anyone who has or is going through living with someone with the disease.
05/28/2009 1:24 AM
RoswellStacy636 wrote: taradise wrote: RoswellStacy636 wrote: Both my grandmas had Alzheimers...and I helped take care of one of them for 8 years. It's such an awful process to watch and be present for. However, know that being present for them is SO important. My family believes that if we put my grandma in a home, she wouldn't have lived even a year. The fact that you can share laughter is amazing...and even though he can't remember your name, you're positively impacting his life. That's something that he'll remember in his soul, even when he can't remember it in his mind. It's nice to see someboday that understands...it's so scary to put him in a home. He's going to have to go there in the next year because I can't handle it and neither can my mom - I need to move on with my life and so does she. It's just hard because I don't want him to go someplace that will just sedate him in order to not have any problems...you know? I know exactly what you mean. We originally looked into putting my grandma into a home, but we decided to take care of her because we were able to. Looking back, I now understand the burden my parents carried by having to take care of her...and I also understand how proud they are of their decision to take care of her. Seems like a double-edged sword sometimes. Just do your research on the homes and visit him every chance you get. And never feel guilty about having to put him in a home. It seems like people automatically want you to put them in a home and don't understand why you'd want to take care of them... or they don't understand how you could possibly leave them in a home. Do the best you can and no one can judge you for it.
Posts: 9319
05/28/2009 1:56 AM
05/28/2009 2:08 AM
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.
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