Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Some Information on Dementia and Alzhiemers

I will be writing different things like this from time to time to maybe in someway help the ones out there to find the help they are looking for or get answers to questions that they might have and hopefully to understand a little more or even better what a love one may be dealing with or going through. I do hope in some small way that by me doing this is truly a help in some way for some one. Having to be caretakers of our parents is so hard and very demanding and there is so much to learn and do. No matter what...though PRAYER is the best thing I know of for anything!


As I said in my profile I am caretaker of both my parents. My father is still able to live at home for the time being. He has heart trouble, high blood pressure, a pace maker, one kidney left and no spleen and just found out he has cataracts in both eyes, although not bad yet and he is 82. Dad has other health problems such as he is forgetting things worse than ever and the dr.s
have said he is getting Alzheimer's. It's not bad yet but he is on his way. Of course that is a NO-NO to dad as far as he is concern. I'm sure you know how that goes. Dad has also had several strokes and these have been called mini strokes, that is until 2 yrs. ago when he had a stroke that put him in the hospital and they had to do surgery with in the first two days he was in the hospital because of his heart and put in a pace maker. That pace maker caused a huge blood clot from around the pace maker up his shoulder all the way down his left arm and to tip of his fingers were swelled three times the size.

Then my mother within 3 mons. of this happening to my dad had a heart attack and a double stroke! She ended up having over 22 bleeds in her brain. This on top of her DEMENTIA she was diagnosed with almost a yr. before. The double stroke fast forward her dementia and she had to spend three wks. in the hospital. After the heart attack and strokes I had to put her into a nursing home for 24/7 care because there was no way I could take care of her the way she needed to be taken care of and of course my dad also and he couldn't take care of her in any way. Mother has had several set backs since this happened to her and each set back causes more problems for her with the dementia. She is for getting more and more faster, she can't get her words out that she wants to use. She is forgetting names, places, people, faces and all within SECONDS of one another. Sometimes on a good day we can have a good conversation for a few mins. then it's gone.

I call it being in the moment with her or mother had a good moment because they are getting shorter and shorter, and it is getting harder and harder for her. My mother will be 84 in a few days and we don't know how long she does have with us. The nurses and doctor's p.a. agree that they don't feel like it is real long but of course with something as this one never really knows, but she is getting worse. It seems like just in the last few wks. she has gotten worse.

My mother at times knows that when she is trying to tell me or my dad something and she can't get out what she wants to say that something is wrong but she doesn't understand what it is or why it is the way it is. She knows or feels she is suppose to know what she is wanting to say or do but it's like she can't get there from here type of thing and she starts to bing out or bounce off the walls so to speak, and if she can't get calm down then she has to be given something to help her calm down. Depending on how bad she gets will vary on the meds she gets. Like from a cream, pill or shot. In that order depending on the severity.
Please email me if I can help answer any questions, Thank you very much!
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There is a difference between DEMENTIA and ALZHEIMER'S...and most people do not know this. Symptoms are sometimes hard to see with Dementia and are most times confused with Alzheimer's.


Dementia and Alzheimer's diseases are perhaps two of the most confusing diseases that exist in the realm of mental degradation in America today. There are a number of differences, however, that allow for those dealing with symptoms characteristic of these two diseases to become more informed.

~~~~~Introduction~~~~~
It is important to compare dementia vs. Alzheimer's disease to realize the differences between the two conditions. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia marked by memory loss in older people. Dementia is the gradual loss of intellectual function. Alzheimer's statistics show that the disease can strike a person as early as 45, while dementia generally takes hold after age 70. The most confused form of dementia is Multi-Infarct Dementia or MID. This condition also attacks the blood vessels in the brain. Both disorders require testing to
determine the best course of treatment.


You can get more info by going to! http://www.alzheimerscaregiverresource.com/

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