Im Worried About My Mother. Posted: 02-22-06 23:35pm
Im worried my mom has may be suffering
from alzheimers. Of course if I mention
this to her she tells me im a
hypochondriac. Which at times I can be
but its mostly just with her health
because im afraid to lose her and I she
doesnt really take care of herself with
checkups and etc. She hasnt gotten a scan
for breast cancer in 2yrs. It used to be
longer but I practicilly forced her to go.
Now im worried about this. She is 48yrs
old, slightly overweight maybe 20lbs. She
forgets things a lot. And asks the same
question over and over again. Last night
she asked the same question 3x in a matter
of 10minutes. She is under a tremendous
amount of stress. I dont want to,
however, chalk it all up to stress and
miss the bigger picture. She is just very
forgetful. Im scared. Her grandmother
(my great grandmother) had alzheimers. My
grandma and her mother is I think 74...Im
not sure. She is ok. But I heard it
could skip generations which means my
mother is next in line. Help!
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tony3595
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 68 Location: IL
Worried About My Mom, Too Posted: 04-04-06 11:27am
I have known that my mother is in her
early stages of alzheimers also for a
couple of years, and we have dealt with it
accordingly with love and patience. She
sees the doctor twice a year, even though
she thinks that she had just visited last
week. She is 84 years old, bless her
heart.
As far as history is concerned, her mother
had it, but that is as far back as we go.
Her sister has it and is getting really
bad to a point that she doesn't recognize
people any longer. This has been coming
on for about two years now. So as far as
skipping a generation, I don't find this
the case.
I live on the east coast and my parents
live in the midwest near my children and
my sister. My father had just passed away
the beginning of last month, and I am now
with my mother to help her with her next
steps in life. She is completely
functional, but very forgetful, so we have
been looking for independent living with
assisted living as things progress. The
progression is getting worse every day and
her depression is not helping matters
either.
My parents were inseparable. They owned a
tavern and worked together for over 30
years. Everything they did was together.
I fear that not only will her condition
worsen rapidly, but also she might give up
on life altogether because of our great
loss. I do not have any idea which way to
turn.
I can relate to your position.
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tony3595
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 68 Location: IL
Posted: 04-27-06 09:31am
Kitkat, how is your mom doing? How are
you doing? I know it is tough to be a
care giver for someone you love.
I haven't heard from you in a while, so I
just thought I would check in.
Tony
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msnancy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 6
Posted: 04-28-06 14:26pm
Hey everyone! My name is nancy and i'm
new to this forum so I thought i'd go
ahead and introduce myself. I'm a mother
of two and just recently began caring for
own mother. Things have changed so
drastically in the past year for her,
mostly her health. She has slowly started
to forget things and I fear more than
anything that this is the begining of
alzheimers. It started out with family
birthdays, but has now escalated to
conversations from an hour earlier. I've
never dealt with anything remotely close
to this, so I am lost at this point. I
feel I am in teh same boat as all of you
in this forum so if anyone has any advice,
helpful suggestions, i'm all ears..
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tony3595
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 68 Location: IL
Posted: 04-29-06 20:39pm
Nancy,
have an assessment done on your mom to
test for alzheimers. Ask her doctor to
see if there is a center that can review
and evaluate her status. Sometimes it
will call for a ct scan to see what the
constriction of the vessels in the brain
are. It is quite thorough, but at least
you will have a diagnosis or a reason for
her memory loss.
If you are interested here is a little
more of my story.
My mother was diagnosed with alzheimers
about three years ago. However, my father
was very healthy and active at that time.
A year ago, he was diagnosed with lung
cancer. He had gone through the routine
chemo/radiation treatments with no good
results.
Last aug. He fell and broke his hip. I
left my wife and dogs in rhode island and
stayed with them while dad had hip sugery.
He was sort of in remission, but the
cancer was still there.
Mom was not handling his situation at all.
I stayed with them through rehab,
rearranged their legal papers, found home
caregivers, and had mom staged, to be able
to protect them from anything outside.
They would have to go through me before
anything was approved.
Mom tested at a stage 2/3 at that time.
Digression was not happening yet.
Dad passed away on 3/6 of this year. He
fought a great fight. Mom is now on the
downward slide. She is now a stage 4/5.
I just had an assessment done with a ct
scan to determine what needs to be done.
My wife and I have not been together since
dad's death, she has a job which she
needed to be at. Our lives right now are
based around mom. I am now looking for an
assisted living residence (alr) near my
sister, which is a story I really don't
want to get into at this point, that has
an alzheimers unit for now and later
care.
I promised dad that I would make sure mom
was safe. I am doing everything I can.
Mom is now sometimes very arrogant and
testy. She thinks there is nothing wrong
with her and can stay in the house without
supervision. Not! Being as I am medical
power of attorney, I am responsible for
her well being. I am burning out quicker
as time wears on. I finally have her
convinced that the alr is the best option.
Living at home is not an option. I watch
over and correct situations before they
become a crisis.
Living with this miserable desease is
worse for the caregiver than the person
inflicted. They slowly deteriorate, we
live and see the deterioration.
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msnancy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 6
Posted: 05-05-06 09:14am
Tony-
thank you for sharing your story. I am
very sorry for your loss an give you a
huge amount of credit for taking this on.
Your parents are very lucky people. My
mother is currently living with my becuase
my father has too passed away.
Fortunatley, she has not been diagnosed
with thsis horrible disease but we do have
an apointment with a neurologist in the
next week so we will have a better answer
then. In the early stages of your mothers
condition, did you ever feel like it was
something that you could have prevented?
Or slowed down? I feel pressure to make
sure that my mother stays active or I make
sure that I read to her or just sit and
tell her stoires. I want her mind to stay
stimulated because I fear that if I don't,
her mind will deteriorate at an evwen
faster rate. Kind of like the old saying
that if you don't use it, you lose it.
I hope everything works out with you and
your family. It's children like you that
make parents very lucky in life.
Cheers
- nance
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tony3595
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 68 Location: IL
Posted: 05-05-06 16:50pm
Nance,
thanks for your reply. Looking back,
there wasn't anything that could have been
done to avoid this miserable desease from
coming on. I have received some great
assistance from her clinic about keeping
her in social atmospheres to stimulate her
mind as much as possible, word games,
reading and discussion on what was read.
They had said anything that would keep the
thought process moving.
We have bee searching out assisted living
residence close to family and friends, so
she can keep what's left active as much as
possible. I have one that we are on the
waiting list that specializes in dementia
and alzheimers people. They concentrate
on their activities and make sure they do
not hole themseles in their room and
"rot". It was a long time search, but
there it was.
Our estimate at this point is that she is
in stage 3/4 of dementia. Her short term
memory is pretty much gone. She forgets
what day it is and what happened just an
hour ago. Once she gets a hint, she will
remember some of it, but not all.
Mom is on aricept and started namenda, for
the third time. She stopped taking it
while dad was still alive. She felt that
it made her dizzie. Not good for an 84
year old lady. Now after coaxing from the
clinic people, she is willing to try it
again. This time she has me to deal with
if she refuses.
I just keep praying for not only something
that will help her, but also for patience
and strength for myself and my wife (she
and I are from rhode island. I was here
and she was there, but today she took a 2
week loa from work and is here now, thank
god).I will keep you informed of our
progress, please do the same with yours.
Sometimes it is nice to have people to
chat with in the same boat, also just to
hae someone listen.
Thanks again.
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Post temporarily unavailable Posted: 05-09-06 12:27pm
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tony3595
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 68 Location: IL
Posted: 05-09-06 20:45pm
Please keep me informed of you findings.
I would be interested.
Thanks for being there.
Tony
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msnancy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 6
Posted: 05-10-06 09:34am
No problem! Everyone needs someone to
talk to. I responded to that email and
the program looks great actually. I
downloaded it this morning and just
skimmed through some exercises but I
honestly think its something that my
mother could benefit from. Let me know if
you would like to forward the email to
you. In the meantime, take care of
yoruself.
Talk to you sooon
- nance
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peter101
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 2 Location: north east coast, england
Posted: 05-12-06 03:42am
Hello every body , first post so please be
gentle.
After reading all about your experiences
with alzheimers , I thought I would share
mine.
My mum has been diagnosed with alzheimers
for for about 4 yrs now and it has been
real hard for all us us to cope with.
She started to get worse while my dad was
looking after her , and actually assaulted
my father a couple of times, I would
imagine it was pure frustration on knowing
that she could do all the same things
before but unable to remember how to do
them now.
She even got to the point that she didnt
live in the family home and was adamant
that it wasnt her house,so the door had to
be locked at all times or she would
"escape" and wonder around the town for
hours not knowing where she is or how to
get home, extremely frightening for the
whole family while out searching for her,
and assisting the police in searching as
well.
As things started to get worse she was
admitted into a full time nursing home as
my father couldnt cope anymore, even
though he tried really hard.
Things took a drastic turn for the worse
in january this year when she had a
massive bleed in the brain that was too
deep for the surgeons to operate on, we
were told that she only had a 10% survival
chance, amazingly she pulled through it,
but the bleed left its damage, she was
unable to speak or walk properly.
She went back to the care home with the
family spending as much time with her as
possible and taking her out in the
wheelchair as soon as the weather was
good.
On the 30th march she had another 2
massive bleeds in the brain, again, the
doctors told us that the next 24-48 hrs
were critical and the would be very
surprised if she made it.
She has pulled through it again and is due
to come back to the nursing home today or
tomorrow.
I apologise if my first post is long , but
it helps if I write it all down,it also
helps that I know that there are other
familys who are going through the same as
us , and there is always some1 there for
to offer support or to ask questions when
I need to.
Thank you for reading this.
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tony3595
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 68 Location: IL
Posted: 05-12-06 10:18am
Peter,
i am so sorry to hear about your mum. You
and your family are going through some
tough times. My prayers are with all of
you. It seems like when you feel that
things are on an even keel, something
comes along a knocks you over. The
emotional roller coaster.
I have the fear of my mom getting to the
point of wandering. That is why since my
dad died, I have been with her all the
time. Soon she will be going to the
assisted living residence, and I can get
back to life again. It has been quite a
year for us, but again, the dear lord will
be with us all.
Let us know how things go, as we will to
you.
Tony
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peter101
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 2 Location: north east coast, england
Posted: 05-12-06 10:35am
Thank you for that tony.
Our thoughts are with you too,we know what
you are going through.
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msnancy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 6
Posted: 05-19-06 09:56am
Hi tony- how have you been? Hopefully
great! Havent heard from you in a while ,
I just wanted to see how you were holding
up. Take care
-nance
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msnancy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 6
Posted: 05-31-06 15:58pm
tony3595
wrote:
please keep me informed of
you findings. I would be interested.
Thanks for being there.
Tony
hi tony- I ended up purchasing the program
and they gave me an extra 10% off the
price. It made me feel betetr because I
do hate to pay full price for anything (i
got this from my mother). Here is the
code for the extra 10% off: prtnr08
hope all is well
- nance
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yonx
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 43 Location: new zealand
Hope For Some Posted: 08-11-06 07:47am
Hi there tony, nance and peter. You
have all had a bad time but you all did
the loving thing, and that part is great.
Sometimes it is too late to help ward
off this dreadful disease but for someone
in the earlier stages, and for those whose
memories are just getting bad, there is
hope. From memory, (accidental pun),
omega 3 fatty acids are essential. Also
lecithin in capsule form protects the
sheath surrounding the nerves involved.
Both of these are in oil form inside the
capsule.
One of my favourite
sites is edit
edit
he is a medical dr who is entirely with
the health world. One can sign up fot
his regular emails where there is a hive
of info on a vast array of
subjects...Leading to different links on
other sites as well of course. The info
is amazing. He is a stirrer and a
fighter against things that are amiss,
such as non stick cooking utensils that
have something very poisonous in them, and
beaurocracy that has gone mad etc,etc.
But he stresses dietary changes and
natural products as treatment for every
sort of disease.
I know that it is some time since your
last postings but I thought I could add a
little bit too, thanks for listening.
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jainischalverma
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 2
Hi Posted: 08-28-07 10:30am
I am really interested in what you will
find. Please mention it in this thread
too.
My Nan had alzheimers. And her mother had
it too so its hereditary, but it didnt
skip a generation. Her mother had it then
she got it and so did her brother, but her
other 2 brothers dont have it..........
Her symptoms were not being able to
remember things that had happened recently
but remembering in detail things that
happened tens of years ago. She would
forget who people are, where she was,
where she put things and would find it
hard to string a sentence together
sometimes and often dithered as if she had
forgotten what she was talking about half
way thru a sentence. She would often do
strange things, such as, i came in once to
find her making a cup of tea and trying to
mix jelly in with it................ then
she would say she didnt want any dinner
and then when you took it off her she
complained that she didnt have any dinner
now..................She also used to ask
about seeing her mum, or say that her dad
would be wondering where she is, even
though they had both been dead for over 15
years at least. She lived in her home with
my Grandad for over 50 years yet didnt
think that was her home and always used to
ask "when are we going home" She died in
July 2005 at the age of 81, her mother had
passed away in January 1989 at the age of
88.......... its a very perculiar thing
and hard to detect, it almost seems to
just creep up un-noticed
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carlotto
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Oct 2007 Posts: 3 Location: ,
Posted: 10-20-07 03:20am
Hi everyone, I've just had my
mother-in-law diagnosed with Alzehimers,
although we suspected it for long. It's
comforting to find others in the same
situation, right now I'm particularly
worried as to whether this will be
hereditary. My wife is 50 and keeps
forgetting things, but surely that can't
be a sign that early. A worry
nevertheless. We don't know of any
relatives in older generations who might
have had Alzimers which is probably a good
sign though.
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carlotto
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Oct 2007 Posts: 3 Location: ,
Posted: 10-20-07 03:23am
Forgot to say, I'm of course interested as
well on any tips. Grasping at any straw
here.
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