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Averia Light

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My grandpa was taken by this disease. I was sheltered from most of it back then, because I was barely 18 and my parents purposely chose the "good" days for us to visit him. Except for the day before he died, I saw the decline, sure, but not the truly awful days. Obviously, I saw him slowly lose physical abilities - like the ability to talk, walk, bathe, properly relieve himself alone, stand, drink, and eventually breathe.

Now my grandmother is in the end days of Alzheimer's. This one I am not sheltered from as I am helping my mom, who also has a husband who is still recovering from cancer. And...it is truly awful. I have seen some really messed up things in my life, but every other one was a situation that could be overcome. There is no silver lining here. She isn't going to get better. There is no hope.

She is currently in memory care. She has turned agressive with sundowners, so grandpa can't stay with her. She thinks he is cheating on him, because he is gone every night. She can't speak coherently, but she talks all the time about another time and place. You can piece together if she is feeling a strong emotion and you can meet her in her reality and talk her down sometimes, but that is it. And, it is only going to get worse. I know how this ends and I can only pray that she doesn't realize what is happening. She is behind two doors, each with separate codes, just like my grandpa. She is going to die there. It is as pleasant as they can make it, like an apartment, but it is no place for such a remarkable woman to spend her last days. But, she can't care for herself and it is too dangerous for anyone else to take her in.

November is Alzheimer's month. It is a disease that a lot of people don't really understand, and I don't expect a lot of people to know. I just wanted to share what I have seen so if others go through it later or now, maybe they can be prepared. Feel free to share your story. And I swear I'm not going to let her know all the pain I have known

18-Nov-2019 02:55:14 - Last edited on 18-Nov-2019 03:05:56 by Averia Light

Feb

2016

qhi

Posts: 1,657 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

As I study Neuropsychology, and frequently have clinical cases, we get many people with Alzheimers, Dementia, and the like come to our clinic. Several are delerious. So I can understand how you may feel (to an extent).

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For those who don't know, Alzheimers is caused by a severe disruption in the Neuron's cytoskeleton, generally in the cerebral cortex - which is in charge of your cognitive and executive functions.

This is generally done by amyloid-beta, a precursor if you will on earlier stages. It collects waste cells, and will eventually cause atrophy. When levels of amyloid-beta increase, you get tau protein - which gets phosphate supplied from amyloid-beta. It binds to axons, which then spread to the rest of the cell. so you get war on two fronts, tau protein and amyloid beta, both fighting your cells, and these things spread fast, so it's like cancer.

So for example, if person is experiecing memory loss, then that will be because of something called neurofibrillary tangles are graves of neurons that are either dead, or are in the process of dying. In cases like ours (hopefully) we don't have neurofibrillary tangles. These tangles are what causes the disease to express its symtpoms (dementia).

But these aren't the only symptoms. there are many more, like depression, confusion, restlessness, hallucination/delusion (which can be confused by family members for schizrophrenia), insomnia, lack of hunger/appetite.

There is no real treatment for alzheimers. Unless you get something to stimulate arousal - stimulation of acetylocholine receptors. Or something which stimulates cholinesterase, which kinda prolongs your messenger cells' life.

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But like we say to our clinical patients' families, keep pictures and anything that can trigger memory, which can be helpful for alzheimer patients.

Hey dere minna-san (everybody)

!

Happy

(

insert prefix here

)day

!
From your friend,

Qhi

18-Nov-2019 07:24:05 - Last edited on 18-Nov-2019 07:24:46 by qhi

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18-Nov-2019 08:25:46

ToP BaSS

Posts: 19,464 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I have been through this with my Mum.
It was an absolute nightmare at every turn. I won't go into detail but is was a descending roundabout of denial - confusion - accidental injury - suspicion - destructiveness - crazy things - denial - confusion - accidental injury - suspicion - destructiveness - crazy things etc. etc.
Mum eventually had to be admitted to a residential care home. Luckily I had persuaded her to agree to allow me full power of attorney literally months before it was too late.
The descending roundabout gradually slowed and then fully stopped to the point Mum didn't recognise anyone or anything.
She died peacefully in hospital admitted after a stroke. Strange thing was I didn't feel such a loss as I would normally expect. We had lost Mum gradually by degrees, in the end it was a release for her and everyone else when she died.

18-Nov-2019 08:33:31

Averia Light

Posts: 28,508 Sapphire Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

qhi said :
As I study Neuropsychology, and frequently have clinical cases, we get many people with Alzheimers, Dementia, and the like come to our clinic. Several are delerious. So I can understand how you may feel (to an extent).

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Thank you. I truly hope you do great things in Neuropsychology, because it seems like you care quite a bit. I also hope you never lose the ability to care in order to cope with the hopelessness around you that is often associated with many levels of psychology. And I swear I'm not going to let her know all the pain I have known

18-Nov-2019 10:31:34 - Last edited on 18-Nov-2019 10:32:08 by Averia Light

Averia Light

Posts: 28,508 Sapphire Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

ToP BaSS said :
I have been through this with my Mum.
It was an absolute nightmare at every turn. I won't go into detail but is was a descending roundabout of denial - confusion - accidental injury - suspicion - destructiveness - crazy things - denial - confusion - accidental injury - suspicion - destructiveness - crazy things etc. etc.

Yeah, I left a lot out of both stories, to be honest. Even with my grandpa and trying to be sheltered, I still saw a lot. But, I am on the "front lines" so to speak with my grandma. She is the worst one in her wing atm and it is just awful.

One awful part is seeing my mom try everything and needing to tell her time and time again that her mom isn't coming back. She just isn't. My mom gets frustrated trying to use logic to talk to her and I keep telling her that you have to meet her in her reality. And then, when I finally get through to my mom about whatever stage my grandma is in, my grandma slips and it starts all over again.

She doesn't even remember me anymore. Well she does, but she thinks I'm my daughter and I am the nanny. To make a long story short, she has fixated on me, both as a nanny in her eyes and as a child, for whatever reason.

There really is no great depiction of this anywhere, and you only really see it if your loved one gets diagnosed with it. So, I decided to write what it is like so hopefully other people can at least have a better understanding of what an Alzheimer's diagnosis really means.

And, I know what you mean about the release of death. Both for Alzheimer's and other deaths. And I swear I'm not going to let her know all the pain I have known

18-Nov-2019 10:45:21 - Last edited on 18-Nov-2019 10:47:09 by Averia Light

Jan

2006

Rooh

Forum Moderator Posts: 40,589 Sapphire Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Spam post removed above.

Alzheimer's is awful, I didn't realise how much it affected people until I did some work for the Alzheimer's Society years ago.

Who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about?

18-Nov-2019 13:26:10

Haukur

Posts: 1,384 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I think the hardest part of this disease is when they forget who you are. I had an older sister pass from this, in the end she did not remember who any of her family was. Don't ever think the reason I am peaceful is because I do not know how to be violent.
Ekki hugsa alltaf að ég sé friðsælt vegna þess að ég veit ekki hvernig á að vera ofbeldi.

18-Nov-2019 14:35:30

Feb

2016

qhi

Posts: 1,657 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I can relate when people say about challenges with memory. My granddad has dementia- he's 95. As we live on opposing ends of the world, I don't really have the chance to talk to him <specifically> on a daily (or weekly/monthly) basis <I should speak regularly, but he is generally sleeping/resting when we call>, so I can't really tell how bad the symptoms have gotten, even though my aunt keeps us posted on his health. From when I have spoken, he talks about me assuming that my older cousin's 2 year old son is me (as we share the same name) - and at times asks where my grandmother is (which brings tears to mine and my families' eyes, as she passed away around 21 years ago).
Conversations are pretty painful emotionally when we manage to speak to him, more so for my dad.

Hey dere minna-san (everybody)

!

Happy

(

insert prefix here

)day

!
From your friend,

Qhi

18-Nov-2019 17:18:06

Averia Light

Posts: 28,508 Sapphire Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Rooh said :
Spam post removed above.

Alzheimer's is awful, I didn't realise how much it affected people until I did some work for the Alzheimer's Society years ago.

A lot of people don't understand how much it impacts people. It really takes everything from a person and it is a slow, torturous death. And I swear I'm not going to let her know all the pain I have known

18-Nov-2019 23:25:40

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