<p>lspf72 said, “It’s heartbreaking when some of the brightest, most interesting and engaging people spend the last years of their lives not as themselves, and that grandchildren and others will never know (or over the years will forget) the amazing people they were before. It’s just so unfair.”</p>
<p>My mom, who I just helped put her shoes on because she couldn’t figure out how to put on slip-ons or who needs help placing one plate on a placemat, used to be able to do calculus in her head. I remember my husband, who’s an engineer, and her figuring out the area of a plat of land that was very oddly shaped. They used calc to do it, and they were talking so far above the rest of us, I was just nodding my head and going … “uh huh.” My daughter takes after her grandmother, and it scares me very much as Mom is the third in line that I know of (her uncle and her grandmother had this) in her family to get this. My brother and I (we’re both in our forties) live with this cloud hanging over us knowing that mom was diagnosed at fifty-seven. And until I lived with this horrible disease, I thought it was just a disease where folks lost their memory, i.e. didn’t know who folks were. I didn’t realize that it’s a total regression to infant state in mind and body.</p>
<p>Zebes, I totally understand and sympathize and admire you for caring for your mom. I remember that about a year after my dad’s diagnosis, he was here “helping” me in my yard (I was spreading out pinestraw mulch at the time). I gave him a handfull and tried to show him what to do and he was utterly confounded. </p>
<p>Bless you for all you are doing! I pray for days of peace for you and for your mom and your family…</p>
<p>While not Alzheimer’s, my mom died of brain cancer 2 years ago this October. Similar to Alzheimer’s was the regression of mind and body. Like so many others that have written here, my mom was one of the most brilliant people I knew. Sometimes it boggled my mind. Among other things, she was a vocalist, and professional comedy writer.</p>
<p>A sweet story…she loved (!) Carvel ice cream. When she was at the “inn” (hospice nursing home, which was so bleak and dreary, she insisted on calling it “the inn”), my brother and I would alternate visiting each day, and Wednesdays, which at the local Carvel store was two-fer day (buy one, get one free) we would take her out in the car. When she was still lucid she would eagerly wait for Wednesday, however in early October we dressed her (yep, just as noted above, showing her how to slip her slip-ons onto her feet and how to drape her tiny id holder around her neck), and got her into the car. My brother and I sang to her “ice cream, we’re gonna have ice cream” (from the Bill Cosby routine,“Tonsils”; my mom adored Bill Cosby). Anyway, we sat in Carvel, each with our favorite (hers was chocolate ice cream, with chocolate syrup, nothing else). She took one bite, shook her head, and asked why she had “never had this before in her life, it was soooooo good!” Of course we reassured her it was her favorite, had been for more that 60 years, and she could have as much as she wanted. Suddenly she looked up at the counter girl, and as straight as could be said to her, “I’m dying.” The poor girl looked shocked. My brother & I assured the girl that mom was being well taken care of. That was our mom’s last Carvel. The following Wednesday my brother and I went to Carvel together, in honor of our mother, and the counter girl asked where she was. As gently as he could my brother broke the news to the girl. I haven’t had a Carvel since, but I have a date with my brother for next Saturday. I suppose we should have one.</p>
<p>I think I agree with others that it’s harder on the family than the patient. Pay close attention to the caregiver(s), as it takes its toll. And if they’re in professional care, remember to thank the caregivers every day for all they do. It takes special people to do this kind of work day in and day out.</p>
<p>someone mentioned Aricept…at a recent checkup, the doc treating my mother just poo pooed it and said it doesnt amount to much in terms of restoring or preventing further memory loss.Of course I was devestated, because you want to think there is something that will help.
My mother is in early stage (probably a later early stage…with lots of clinical depressions added in),still able to live independently with a few hours of daily help,and my H and I taking care of grocery shopping,food prep and bill paying.
Any other opinions on the drug?</p>
<p>Mom just started aricept. She’d been on razadyne and namenda for years, but we noticed that she was declining at an even faster pace the past few months. So the doc felt as though those had probably run their course. We’re trying Aricept dissolvable tablets, as Mom can no longer swallow pills, and continuing with her Lexapro, now in liquid form. (lexapro is an anti-depressant she’s been on). I’ve only had her on the aricept about 3 weeks, and I don’t know if it’s doing anything or not. At stage 6 who knows? … but I’m not ready to pull the plug on it yet, as long as she’s tolerating it well. At the point she doesn’t want it, or side-effects get in the way, we’ll discontinue use. And then … there’s nothing else as far as medications to slow the progress. There’s an ethical balance that moves to the forefront: quality of life vs prolongation of life at the expense of quality. It’s a miserable battle to have to deal with. </p>