Rough evening

Ah, dragonmedley, that’s a tough, tough row to hoe (as my gra’ma used to say) I’m so sorry. It’s always hard to say good-bye to a loved one and to watch the process happen right before your eyes, well, it somehow doesn’t seem fair… {{HUGS}}

twindragonsmum

I’m so sorry Hun. Give me a ring if you want to talk.

*hugs* It is very hard, and I am sorry that you are going through this. 🙁 My grandpa had Alzheimer’s, and it is a heartbreaking disease.

I’m so sorry that you have to go through this dragonmedley 🙁

My grandmother lives in the same house as my parents and myself (my grandmother and I live in apartments upstairs). My mother takes care of her for the most part, but it’s been about 2 years since we found out that she has this disease and it’s been incredibly stressful on my mother because her other 5 siblings (yeah, 5!) won’t do anything to help. It’s especially heartbreaking because I’ve sat in my grandmother’s apartment with my mother and my gram will ask me about my family – “Where’s your mother? Did she die?”. My mom just kind of sighs and looks at me like ‘it’s no use’. My gram also doesn’t seem to understand day from night anymore. She will often be up at 3am, completely dressed and ready to go somewhere. I hear her from my rooms, waking around her apartment doing “stuff”. My mother says that she’s constantly looking for something but she can never find it. She opens the closet, the drawers in her kitchen, her fridge, her cupboards over and over again..

The one positive thing about the situation is that my grandmother has an EXCELLENT attitude through this. I can’t imagine what it would be like if she was sad or bitter about it, but every time she realizes that she’s forgotten something or she can’t get the words out that she wants to she just starts laughing, or she bonks herself on the head like she knows that’s what the problem is.

Anyway, I hope this doesn’t make thinking about it worse, dragon – my grandmother’s condition was something that we are sure went on for much longer than we noticed it for, so she was getting no medication until 2 years ago. It sounds like your father has a loving family that will help him through this. My mother has also attended a few seminars that explained a lot to her about Alzheimers and what you can do to continue connecting with your loved one. It sounds like your dad has some hands-on hobbies and I know that keeping stuff like that going is supposed to be a big help with memory. If your dad likes doing his hobbies but is afraid he will forget how, you should definitely encourage him to try! One of the things that the Center that my grandmother attends during the day (its kind of a day care for elderly) does is that they try to play old board games and get them doing some type of artwork. Somehow it seems like that type of hands-on stuff stimulates the brain and really can help in the long run.

My thoughts are with you and your father, and if you ever need to talk to someone I’m also here along with all these other wonderful people <3