Face of Alzheimers

[lovelife65]

Recent trip back to Fort Wayne to check up on my mom, living in Assisted Living with her hubby. I hope some day, they make inroads into the disease.

skf

#1 mom


#2 mom and her husband (before Assisted Living)

[Shadowman]

Nice captures.

[IzzieK]

Alzheimer's is not a good one to have in life. I have watched Mom (in law) suffered from it till she passed on (I think about 90 years of age). I make it a point for Bill and I to have CT/PET scans once a year to avoid alzheimer's if detected earlier. I had mine a few days ago as part of my annual. My Mom was the most beautiful, kind and active woman I have ever seen in my entire life so far. She will never be replaced. I like to remember Dad and her while they were waving us goodbye near their garage that it came to the point where I cannot bear visiting her in hospital and seeing how she had changed a lot physically. I also hope a cure can be found soon. I feel for you. I was lost when I lose my Mom.

[bnnrcn]

They look lovely in the second image Sharon I share the same hope with you about the disease.

[lovelife65]

Thanks for the kind words all. Not super great portraits, as she hates having her photo taken, and will start acting silly.

She's outlived 2 previous hubbies, but it was apparant that dementia was setting in. Luckily she still remembers who I am (altho at times she will confuse me with her sister, but in a weird way). She has an off beat sense of humor, but is not mean. They were really struggling at the home the year before I moved them into Assisted living (took a fall, and hospitalization with a dvt to understand how bad). Her husband has a different type of dementia... more executive function (think of the microsoft icon spinning and spinning trying to accomplish something). She's all short term memory struggles.
She's one tough cookie. She had 25 kids running around while we were young (child care), delivered newspapers (on foot in Indiana weather at 3 am), mowed lawns, shoveled driveways, worked the kitchen at the high school.
I wanted to move her here, too hard with long distance and a husband tho.
Sadly, I see the same beginnings of memory difficulties (they don't lose their memories, their brains just lose the ability to retrieve them) in her sister who's about 6 years younger (my mom is 85). It's very scary to me, I'm wondering is this my future?
Izzie, I have wondered about being tested myself. I am so sorry about your mother. So very sad, and heartbreaking to watch progress. There are certain lipid markers that can show a predisposition. One thing I know about my mom, is the decline was very rapid after she stopped being active (stupid doctors ignoring clear signs of a developing blood clot). I plan to be hiking mountains and riding my road bike as long as possible. In case you are interested, glucose metabolism is very important as well. And, females are more suseptable, so menapause is considered a risk, and a rethinking on hormone replacment therapy has started (a certain type and time). And all disease is inflammation related. Curcumin shows promise (I take it).
I don't know what I'd do with the results if I did get tested, I do know it ain't looking so great.

[Rita]

I feel for you Sharon. Both my parents had this dreadful disease as well as, now, a very dear friend. So glad that she still can recognize you, that makes life a bit easier. As with many diseases it is one step at a time and believing that one day there will be a cure.

[lovelife65]

I feel for you Sharon. Both my parents had this dreadful disease as well as, now, a very dear friend. So glad that she still can recognize you, that makes life a bit easier. As with many diseases it is one step at a time and believing that one day there will be a cure.

Thank you and I'm also very sorry Rita, how terrible. I will try to see my mom as much as is reasonable while she still recognizes me. She'll forget that I visited (how did you find me here, she'll ask.... and do you still live in colorado (college))? But, the smile when she sees me is worth it.
I just hit the 5th decade of life, I hope progress continues to be made on the disease and others soon don't have to suffer.

Sorry for taking such a depressing topic too far on this forum
-Sharon

[LePetomane]

Sharon, thanks for the post. Alzheimer's is a horrible disease. It was the incurable nature of diseases like this that drove me out of Neurology. I wish you and your mom well.

[lovelife65]

Sharon, thanks for the post. Alzheimer's is a horrible disease. It was the incurable nature of diseases like this that drove me out of Neurology. I wish you and your mom well.

Hi Paul thank you.
Sad to hear you left the profession. It's people like you that are needed to drive the future cure.

[LePetomane]

Sharon, thanks for the compliment. I left after one year of training. It is a fascinating specialty but it takes a certain kind of person to become a Neurologist. I encounter Alzheimer's patients on a regular basis when they present for surgery. They present us with a lot of challenges but it can be rewarding to have the opportunity to impact positively on their perioperative care

[IzzieK]

I have done some extensive research on Alzheimer's and I have not encounter one that hasn't an accident before they were diagnosed with it. In my Mom's case, she was helping a neighbour of theirs water the garden while they were on vacation. Slipped and fell and broke her left hips. Then the doctors operated on the right so she had to go for the right operation. Things deteriorated from there. A once active woman that slowly become a vegetable. She hadn't really been sick at all before that incident apart from perhaps a sniffle or two. She was of strong character too like your Mom.

Take care,
Izzie