Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Alzheimers

Today me, my mom, and my aunt went to a class on Alzheimer's. The class will be every Tues. afternoon for four weeks. National Institute on Aging and National Institute of Health is giving us this info.

My grandmother has Alzheimer's and we want to see what they are doing about it. We never realized how bad my grandmother was until my grandfather passed away and she was on her own. There are so many signs we missed when he was living and we just thought oh that's just grandma.

On the info they gave us they shared 3 stages.

Early Stages: (1-3 years)

  • Mildly impaired
  • Increased difficulty following directions
  • Increased difficulty understanding large amounts of information
  • Increased difficulty making quick decisions
  • Difficulty remembering recent experiences
  • Uncertainty and hesitancy performing duties
  • Difficulty handling money
  • Difficulty driving a car
  • Difficulty learning new activities
  • Mood personality changes

Middle Stages: (5-7 years)

  • Moderately impaired
  • Communication difficulties more prevalent
  • Disoriented to time, may confuse day and night
  • Asks questions repeatedly
  • Hygiene is inconsistent
  • May be suspicious, agitated, paranoid, or aggressive
  • May wander, pace, rummage

Last Stage: (2-3 years)

  • Unable to communicate with words
  • May not recognize family members
  • Needs assistance with ADLs
  • Swallowing difficulties or forget to eat
  • Mobility unsteady or become immobile
  • Incontinent of bladder and/ or bowel

Statistics say:

  • 1 in 8 age 65 and older will have Alzheimer's
  • 1 in 2 age 85 and older will have Alzheimer's


It has been really hard seeing my family go through so much and wondering if they are doing the right thing for her. I am thankful that she knows who I am, because there is some in the family she doesn't know. We think she knows me because I go see her as much as I can.

2 comments:

  1. We went through this with my grandmother also. It is a very humbling thing to live through beginning to end. I'll never forget my grandfather being there every day, even after she no longer could be kept at home and didn't remember him.

    I hate this disease.

    ReplyDelete

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