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Caretaker Stories: Moments of Lucidity

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Friends and family who have experienced the progression of Alzheimer’s disease say that things get a lot easier once the person with the disease stops remembering. I can definitely see how that can be the case. People with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease are often combative and difficult to deal with. As example, I offer my own experiences as caretaker for my grandmother. In the early days of the disease, she was very defensive about gaps in her memory. If she couldn’t remember something, it was because nobody had told her. Sometimes, her brain would come up with a … Continue reading →

Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is divided into stages in order to help people understand how the disease might unfold in a loved one. However, not everyone experiences the same symptoms at the same rate! On average, a person with Alzheimer’s disease passes away within four to six years of diagnosis. Some people live on for as long as twenty more years after a diagnosis. In general, Alzheimer’s disease is divided into mild, moderate, and severe stages. Experts have developed a more detailed list, even including pre-Alzheimer’s mental states: Stage 1: No impairment. A person experiences no memory problems that are evident to … Continue reading →

Alzheimer’s Disease: Forgetting Your Partner

Former U.S. Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor is happy that her husband is in love with another woman. Last year, O’Connor left her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court to look after her husband John, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. John O’Connor has been slowly losing his memories to the disease for the last seventeen years. Although the O’Connors have been married for fifty-five years, John has started a new relationship with a patient at a care facility in Arizona. Experts say that it is not common for Alzheimer’s patients to start new relationships. People who suffer from the … Continue reading →

How Old Lady Jail Is Helping My Grandmother

This spring, we finally got an official diagnosis for my grandmother’s memory problems: Alzheimer’s disease. The doctor started her on Aricept and encouraged the family to find a Senior Care Center for social stimulation. My grandmother was not happy about this development. She called it the “looney bin” and “old lady jail” and put her foot down: she was not going to go. We coaxed and cajoled; we blamed it on the doctor. Finally, we put our collective feet down. The staff gave us a copy of the schedule, and we tried to get my grandmother excited about upcoming events: … Continue reading →