Alzheimer's Disease Support Group
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration with declining activities of daily living and neuropsychiatric symptoms or behavioral changes. An early symptom is memory loss (amnesia), usually manifesting as minor forgetfulness that becomes pronounced with illness progression, with relative...
I joined this group because I have nowhere else to go. My mom suffers from moderate Alzheimer's disease. She has severe mood swings and memory loss. My father does the best he can. I have three siblings who just out and out and ignore mom. I am with her day to day. I listen to her repeat herself and deal with her emotional outburst. I feel so guilty because I suffer from cerebral palsy and bipolar disorder. She took care of me her entire life and I love her for that but I also feel very trapped by it to I think I'm just venting. Thank you for reading this post.
Welcome to our group,,,,none of us wanted to be a member, but...here we are....I hope you will find understanding and support here in this long hard journey..
and...vent away...we all do and it is often the only things that gets us through bad moments...you are safe to say here things you might not feel safe saying elsewhere.....
many of our family members also took a hike as the diagnosis came and the going got rough...it is part of what makes it even more painful...
you have a whole lot to deal with, hope you come here as often as you want....
It is very common for children to pretend this isn't happening. And the more you do the less they will do. So I would suggest that you get everyone involved. If they all use email start a group email to keep everyone up to date and make communication easy. But you should also have a face-to-face meeting to discuss what each feels they can contribute. One may be able to be there in person more, another may be able to take vacation time to stay with them, another may not be able to get there but might be good with paperwork(especially the insurance) and another might be willing to do cleaning or run errands. Not everything needs to be shared equally but the overall work needs to be shared.
If you read back over old topics you will see that you aren't alone and will learn alot. Hopefully you will find some things that will help you as you start down this road.
What is it about us? I'm beginning to think that it's because I'm weak in some way, which isn't the best thing to think while putting up with so much!
I just joined also. Maybe I wasn't supposed to say so much about myself in response to someone else's post.
Welcome.....hopefully you will find this a helpful place with helpful caring people to share and support you on your hard journey.
There is a wealth of experience here, sadly, but when you make your voice heard, folks here KNOW what you are talking about...I often find hat to be the saving grace in my dilemma of the day....
I don't understand the why of being the caregiver and not being helped by others...it is an experience many if not most of us have faced.....why...? fear? loathing? their own life, uninterrupted?
one good thing,,,DS is always "open and here'....
.
when you have the time go through old posts , I think you will find a wealth of information and enough love to go around for everybody. Sherbear2 (Sherri(
we can only be responsible for our own actions. Others must deal with themselves, not our problem. If at the end of the day you can look in the mirror and be proud of what you see ..That is a good day!
Sounds to me like you should have many good days!!!! Hugs Sherri (sherbear2)
When I got home I mentioned to my husband what she had said. I said I was worried about what was going to happen when she died and how her son would have a guilty conscience. My hubby's response "what makes you think he has a conscience?" I think he was right. When she died her son and d-i-l cried and carried on and you would have thought they were by her side every minute of her illness.
I guess I just feel they will answer to God when their time comes or maybe no one will be there for them when they need some one to care.
I am angry and frustrated at times as to what my life's work has been........caring for others often at the expense of taking care of myself. There is no other way though that I would chose to be. When my father, mother, brother and sister-in-law died, I had absolutely no regrets or feelings of guilt about what I should have done. I once said to my priest that as a young woman I absolutely did NOT want to follow the same path as my Mom and end up taking care of every sick relative as she did. My priest said to me "maybe it wasn't your choice to go into nursing but God's choice." God knows there are people in our lives who will need care and chooses us to be the one to do it.
We here at this website feel only love and often wonder at the challenges that face our fellow cyber friends. We all go through the anger, frustration, lonliness, loss of intimacy and isolation and most importantly the guilt we manage to feel when we give in to those feelings. It so helps to vent and get all of those feelings out so we can get back to the business of care giving. Sometimes on my worst days I sign on to daily strength and there is a "hug" from a friend that just helps me to get through the day. Welcome aboard Hardycat.
Welcome to the group. I too am a newcomer who is looking for some support and a place to vent. Instead ,in addition to that,I have found people who know what I am talking about when I say my husband's dementia is getting worse or his memory of things is nonexitent or skewed..I try to take one day at a time and deal with that. That is all I can do.