Joe
My mother-in-law has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease.
My wife is now the primary caregiver and she wisely searched for a source of help, for now and for, "in the future". We discussed the situation and decided to seek help, in understanding the disease, its progression with and without drug help. Even though she is the primary caregiver, I accompanied her to learn how I could help the caregiver.
With a phone call to The Alzheimer's Society of Hamilton & Halton (905-529-7030) we started off on a free voluntary course, with other people who were also looking for guidance. At the initial session the concerning person may attend with the caregiver but after that session, the caregivers met as a group with our instructors/teachers. They are an impressive group.
We learned that dementia is a set of symptoms that accompanies a disease, and that Alzheimer's is one of a group of five recognized entities - but that it accounts for about 64% of all the dementias diagnosed in
We learned that it is progressive over time because of the breakdown of brain cells, that is irreversible and there is no known cure at this time. We know it can occur in early middle age but is usually seen in seniors, it occurs in all races and genders.
As caregivers we were gradually introduced to the symptoms we might see in the early, middle and late stages of Alzheimer's disease and the time proven steps to cope with these symptoms as we recognized them.
I might add that the introduction was accompanied by any amount of explanatory literature which we took home, hopefully digested and reviewed at the next session where any and all questions were answered.
Much of our discussions were focused on the early and middle stages but the literature filled in any gaps of the late stages.
It was very gratifying to see the commitment, knowledge and dedication of these teachers and very gratifying to know that this philosophy is carried on when our relatives may become residents of a long term care facility. These workers never let us forget that these people who have difficultly with memory and who exhibit progressive symptoms are the same people we love but now have a few obvious defects. There is still a person in there and they should not be alone anymore.
Joe Carroll
