4th December 2007
If your Mom is going to get Alzheimer's then it will happen. There is some research out there concerning loss of smell and ALZ but there is not clear cut connection. There is only a slight statistical difference between the number of patients who still have their smell and those that don't... and how many of each group ends up with ALZ.
Caring for a dementia patient is not like caring for a toddler. A toddler can learn and has the ability to reason. The dementia patient continues to forget what they knew and loses their ability to reason. I have had both and there is no comparison.
I can relate to what you are saying. My Mom is physically much younger than her 78 years. She can out work me, out walk me, and never seems to run out of energy. She has hearing loss (2 hearing aids at this point) and has had cateract surgery plus lazer surgery on both eyes. She was the one that kept the family together, handled the finances, and was active in her church, community, and volunteer work. Her Mother also had ALZ. ALZ was my Mom's worst nightmare. She pushed herself, doing crossword puzzels, staying active, and talking every herbal supplement she could find. If there was anything out there that might help she tried it.....
About 4 years ago she was diagnosed with depression. I tilted my head to the side because that was totally out of character for my Mom. Two years ago I realized that she was not keeping her check register and had stopped doing her bookkeeping. She was an accountant/bookkeeper. Then there were a string of medication mistakes, strange occurances, and lots of thing blamed on Dad, who has had vascular dementia for 8 years, that were not characteristic of him. Then a year ago Dad ended up in the hospital from a Xanax overdose that Mom gave him. She didn't remember when she had given him a pill and gave him way too much. She called and told us he had a stroke so we all went home. It was evident that she was confused. Three weeks later I took her to a cognitive research service and she was diagnosed with ALZ. She had been covering her inabilities for about 3 years. We tried to keep them both at home but that became impossible so they moved into assisted living 2 months ago.
You need to know the signs of dementia and what to look for. There is a sticky topic on this forum that will give you the stages of dementia. Hyper, stressed, nor anxiety are causes of dementia. They may be a symptom or make the disease evident.. but not a cause. Is your Mom having trouble handling her own fiances, is she balancing her check book? Does she confuse what has happened or repeat her self? Can she follow complicated directions? Does she burn foods she is trying to cook? These are the types of things you look for.
I hope your mom doesn't have dementia in any form. There are cognitive research services, geriatric physicians, and neurologist that can help you with an early diagnosis if you suspect dementia. Early diagnosis and the use of drugs such as aricept or namenda can slow the progress of the disease if she does have it but there is no cure. I found out that knowing the diagnosis and understanding it made it much easier to deal with Mom's strange behavior. It is better to know then to worry. We all wish that our parents live with health and mind until they are over 100 but that rarely happens. If you determine the worse you will have a good cry and pick yourself up and do what you need to do. That's what I did......
I would suggest that you get a Power of Attorney for both of your parents in case it is needed. You should also have their living wills and medical powers of attorney as well as current wills. You may not need them now but they are priceless when you do need them.
You may want to talk to your Mom and see if you can help her de-stress her life a little... or perhaps that's the way she likes it. Just be observant and honest in your assessmment. I wish you luck and will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers.
Love, deb
Caring for a dementia patient is not like caring for a toddler. A toddler can learn and has the ability to reason. The dementia patient continues to forget what they knew and loses their ability to reason. I have had both and there is no comparison.
I can relate to what you are saying. My Mom is physically much younger than her 78 years. She can out work me, out walk me, and never seems to run out of energy. She has hearing loss (2 hearing aids at this point) and has had cateract surgery plus lazer surgery on both eyes. She was the one that kept the family together, handled the finances, and was active in her church, community, and volunteer work. Her Mother also had ALZ. ALZ was my Mom's worst nightmare. She pushed herself, doing crossword puzzels, staying active, and talking every herbal supplement she could find. If there was anything out there that might help she tried it.....
About 4 years ago she was diagnosed with depression. I tilted my head to the side because that was totally out of character for my Mom. Two years ago I realized that she was not keeping her check register and had stopped doing her bookkeeping. She was an accountant/bookkeeper. Then there were a string of medication mistakes, strange occurances, and lots of thing blamed on Dad, who has had vascular dementia for 8 years, that were not characteristic of him. Then a year ago Dad ended up in the hospital from a Xanax overdose that Mom gave him. She didn't remember when she had given him a pill and gave him way too much. She called and told us he had a stroke so we all went home. It was evident that she was confused. Three weeks later I took her to a cognitive research service and she was diagnosed with ALZ. She had been covering her inabilities for about 3 years. We tried to keep them both at home but that became impossible so they moved into assisted living 2 months ago.
You need to know the signs of dementia and what to look for. There is a sticky topic on this forum that will give you the stages of dementia. Hyper, stressed, nor anxiety are causes of dementia. They may be a symptom or make the disease evident.. but not a cause. Is your Mom having trouble handling her own fiances, is she balancing her check book? Does she confuse what has happened or repeat her self? Can she follow complicated directions? Does she burn foods she is trying to cook? These are the types of things you look for.
I hope your mom doesn't have dementia in any form. There are cognitive research services, geriatric physicians, and neurologist that can help you with an early diagnosis if you suspect dementia. Early diagnosis and the use of drugs such as aricept or namenda can slow the progress of the disease if she does have it but there is no cure. I found out that knowing the diagnosis and understanding it made it much easier to deal with Mom's strange behavior. It is better to know then to worry. We all wish that our parents live with health and mind until they are over 100 but that rarely happens. If you determine the worse you will have a good cry and pick yourself up and do what you need to do. That's what I did......
I would suggest that you get a Power of Attorney for both of your parents in case it is needed. You should also have their living wills and medical powers of attorney as well as current wills. You may not need them now but they are priceless when you do need them.
You may want to talk to your Mom and see if you can help her de-stress her life a little... or perhaps that's the way she likes it. Just be observant and honest in your assessmment. I wish you luck and will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers.
Love, deb