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Alzheimers
is a difficult disease for any family to deal with. When I was married
over 1FREE years ago, my father-in-law was a joke telling, happy go lucky
card playing person. We didn't understand at first what started
happening to him. At first, we thought it was just part of getting
older. He would forget what he was doing, or where he put the keys or
some other odd thing. We didn't realize at the time, that all of us were
about to start down a long and difficult road.
Alzheimer's
disease affects the mind in such a way, that the person (at least in our
situation) cannot function in normal situations. It is the most common
cause of dementia. Alzheimer's disease affects an estimated 4.FREE million
Americans.
A person with Alzheimer's Disease might forget the
simplest words, misplace things and have a loss of mental functioning
including language, recognition of family, reading and writing.
In
our situation, Dad started living more and more in the past, and less
and less in the present. One time, when Dad's wife was sick and in the
hospital, he couldn't remember where she was. "Where is she?", Dad would
ask. "She is at the hospital", we would reply. Five minutes later, we
would repeat the same discussion. We would do this over and over.
In
our case, as Alzheimers progressed, Dad would stop recognizing us. One
time, my wife went to visit and Dad screamed and yelled at the strange
woman who had come over. Dad even threw a punch when the strange man
known as his son came into the home.
Alzheimers is a disease that
never seems to stop. As Dad's condition worsened, he would start
wandering off - not knowing where he was. We had to get a door alarm
that would sound when the door was opened to keep him from leaving.
However, even that didn't work all the time. One time, in winter, Dad
wandered off in his pajamas. We had to call the police to help us find
him.
Now Dad has moved to a secure assisted living facility that
is designed to care for patients with Alzheimers. He seems happy, but it
is hard for us, to see his life so drained of what it was and what it
could still be if he didn't have Alzheimer's disease. I think Alzheimers
is a disease that affects the whole family. If we visit, he doesn't
know who we are. He doesn't even remember that we were there. He still
remembers that he was married, but he doesn't remember to whom he was
married.
What causes Alzheimers? The doctors don't know for sure.
Doctor's know that each patient reacts differently to the disease and
the disease progresses differently for each person. There is still no
treatment for the disease. For our family, we take comfort knowing that
Dad is happy and not in pain, even if he doesn't know us anymore.
About the Author:
To learn to increase your learning curve about Alzheimer's disease or
if you need help on what to do if a loved one has Alzheimers, please go
to http://thecottagesofalb.com
Copyright 2006 Morris Patrick
Source: www.isnare.com
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