The Struggle Is {Alzheimers}

  

The blog never experienced more readers than it did when I would do a weekly high light of my grandmother's struggle with the first stage of Alzheimer's (posts in 2013).  The first slippings of memory were hard to take and it was nice to share with the readers how it felt and what it was like from a grandchild's point of view.

People read because they were "interested" - human condition - we all seem to be pulled in by stuff that is out of the ordinary and Alzheimer's/Dementia is certainly out of the ordinary.

People read because they were "scared" - no one wants to think of a future where they forget their entire life because their brain is being eaten away.

People read because they were experiencing the same thing and needed to know they weren't alone.

Alzheimer's / Dementia is one of the most disgusting and derogatory diseases I have ever witnessed.  To be a fully functioning and healthy individual who at the drop of a hat begins losing their most critical unit (the brain) and everything they had stored there for 60, 70, 80 years is heinous.

My grandmother long forgot about me.  I dealt with it and could comprehend it wasn't her but her disease that took away who I was to her.  In turn it took away who she was to me.  As of late she has begin what looks like a transition into another level or stage of her illness.  She is showing signs of being slightly combative and more confused than ever before.

She packs things and says she is ready to go home....while she's standing in the house she's lived in for 60+ years.

She awaits for her husband who has been deceased for 7 years this month.  He's really a faded memory as others she sees becomes her "husband".

She has the mouth of a sailor and speaks ill of people who are helping her.

Her, what can only be called, attacks of the mind, are happening more frequently as she calls with strange questions and makes ill assumptions.

She thinks her 50 year old daughter is an 8 year old who she hasn't seen in a very long time.

The struggle is, indeed, real.  Some of you are well aware of how hard it is to watch someone you love slowly deteriorate.  Slow as molasses they lose their abilities to comprehend all the while as the brain melts away the things you cannot see are fading as well.

Alzheimer's/Dementia is not a disease that only effects the brain.  It takes a toll on every organ system and cell in the body.  As the brain is destroyed so are all the things that brain commands.  Too many people are not aware of that fact and it needs to be in your face more.

Alzheimer's is not a disease of forgetting but a disease that forages on every single aspect of the human body, mind, and spirit.

For the next few weeks I'm going back to the Alz/Dem posts.  This time from a new point of view on the progression of the disease.  I hope you'll join me and invite others who are new to the battle (particularly those in care giving capacities) to read along and join in the conversation.

Thanks for reading.