Comments for Alzheimer's Support

Comment on “Will Mom forget me?” as Alzheimer’s progresses — by Laura

Laura — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:27:32 +0000

Sandy, I have the same fear, that my mother will forget me. I pray that she never will, but I am still haunted with the thought that she will. I have vowed to make my mother’s life as happy as possible. She has always been kindhearted by nature and she continues to express such gratitude for the simpliest things. She remains very loving towards everybody, even strangers. She thinks everyone is a friend or family. Although, she is in denial of her condition, and totally unaware that her mental capacity, my brother and I travel this journey one day at a time. I really like your news articles and they are helpful as I try to learn more about this horrible disease. Thank you.

Comment on Alzheimer’s and Dementia and Anesthesia –What causes the severe Confusion by ~ Sandy

~ Sandy — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:04:45 +0000

Hello Sue,
Oh I know how you feel. My mom went into the hospital for a week and I hardly knew her. Every behavior was off and she forgot even more of what she did remember. But–once she was home again, she recovered a lot. There’s just something about being confined like that when they are already in a precarious state of mind.

I think your mom will be much better when she comes home again, or is released from the hospital.

You are probably needing some real support right now, too. If you have an account with Facebook, you might enjoy the Alzheimer’s group there. Memory People. It’s a group formed of people who have Alzheimer’s, are related to them or friends and caregivers. A nice place to visit for answers, advice and friendly camaraderie. If you’re on Facebook, simply search “Memory People.”

I think you’ll enjoy sharing and learning with others in the “same boat.” It often helps to know how someone else handled a certain situation.

Best,
Sandy

Comment on Alzheimer’s and Dementia and Anesthesia –What causes the severe Confusion by Sue James

Sue James — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:48:19 +0000

My mum I’s in hospital now she has broken her hip , she has become non compliant won’t eat and her language is terrible! I work with older people who have dementia and I no hospitalisation causes them become more confused but my mum has changed so dramatically. I hate dementia I want my mum back I’m so upset at present feel like I need to be stronger fir my kids and dad but keep
Crying

Comment on Links and Updates for 2011 changes you may need to know by Medicare Buz » Blog Archive » Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, Attorneys at Law

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:08:16 +0000

[...] NY issued a new Administrative Directive on July 11, 2011 that will make it more difficult to protect assets from nursing home costs. In essence, a Medicaid applicant can set aside money for burial space items for a child, brother, sister, and the spouses of those family members to protect that money from being treated as an available resource for Medicaid. This is a plannning technique that I have used often to protect assets from being used to pay for nursing home costs. Now Medicaid requires you to do that the month prior to getting on Medicaid. The problem is that many people consult with a lawyer after there is an emergency so even if you set up the burial space agreements, if you dont set them up before you go into a nursing home, you can lose Medicaid qualification for each month you havent set up the agreements, which in NY can cost you $8,500 to $11,000 a month. This is a rediculous law merely intended to hurt and not help people who want to try to protect some of their assets and not lose everything because they are going into a nursing home. So you may want to plan ahead and consider the use of burial space agreeements prior to going into a nursing home to protect some of your life savings for the people you love instead of giving the money to a nursing home.Source: free-alzheimers-support.com [...]

Comment on What Happens to Intimacy When the Alzheimer’s or Dementia Sufferer is Your Spouse by Sheri

Sheri — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:45:44 +0000

Thank you for approaching this subject. As an Alzheimer spouse this is one of the most difficult parts.

Comment on How to Convince the Alzheimer’s Patient to Shower, Change clothes and sometimes Brush Their Teeth by Lizzie

Lizzie — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:32:27 +0000

You spoke the truth! I know what you mean, and it seems to be an issue with so many others. My mom would say, I just took a shower! Of course she didn’t, I was there. Then she would sometimes get up in the middle of the night to shower. You do need to pick your battles and sometimes that was one that just wasn’t worth fighting. I had to wait until she was in a really good mood to approach her on the subject and then she might go along with it. I know how she used to be, she loved to shower and have clean hair. Alzheimers changes people in so many ways, it’s so sad.

Comment on Phones, Remotes and Microwave Ovens – Gadgets may look-alike to Alzheimer’s Patient by Merilee Griffin

Merilee Griffin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:02:02 +0000

Excellent post! When people are getting used to their new role as caregiver for someone with cognitive decline, it’s often difficult for them to understand what’s going on. This incident with Mom mistaking the phone for the remote is a great illustrations!

Comment on Does the Alzheimer’s sufferer invent memories– or just lie? by ~ Sandy

~ Sandy — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:18:42 +0000

Oh you are so right. That’s exactly what it is. They are trying to make sense out of situations that make no sense.

What amazed me most was that Mom would remember her “pretend” explanation, but never remembered whatever I told her to explain a situation.

If you think about, that had to be so frightening for them. I can’t even imagine how that must have felt, confusing and scarey– I’m sure.

Comment on Does the Alzheimer’s sufferer invent memories– or just lie? by Merilee Griffin

Merilee Griffin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:04:59 +0000

Observing my own mother (who had Alzheimers), I thought that her untrue statements were not so much lies, but explanations she invented to make her life logical. All day long things surprised her – her crochet hook disappeared (her fingers still remembered how to crochet, even though the result was a little strange); someone wanted to take her blood pressure; her purse was under her bed. She had no way of understanding why these things happened, but it was necessary for her to make sense of them.

Imagine living a whole day in which everything you expected didn’t happen and lots of things you didn’t expect kept happening. It would be like Alice down in the rabbit hole – a little crazy. When the crochet hook turned up in the kitchen sink, Mom said, Oh it was sticky and I wanted to rinse it off. That wasn’t true, but it probably seemed true to her because it was a logical explanation of something that was otherwise crazy.

Comment on Can Alzheimer’s sufferer tell time? –Not by the hands on a clock by Sheri

Sheri — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:16:38 +0000

Thanks for sharing that Sandy! Bob’s birthday is in March I know the perfect gift!