My grandmother suffers from early onset Alzheimer Disease. She was diagnosed about a year ago and has been learning to deal with it ever since. With time the disease has progressed and is slowly having more trouble remembering many things. About a week or so ago she had an appointment to receive her US citizenship. ( For those of you that don't know, during this appointment you are required to fill several paperwork and are interviewed and based on your responses they decided whether or not you can receive your citizenship.) My grandmother has been traveling in and out of the country for almost 50 years. But she felt that the country where she bared her three children was the one country she fell in love with and was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life. Thank god she was granted this great opportunity! Well a week ago both my aunt and my grandfather accompanied her to the meeting and according to them there were several responses that she answered wrong to. For example, they would ask her where she lived and she told them that she lived in a different city from where she lives now. Then they asked where the statue of liberty was located and she responded Washington D.C. Since the government is obviously involved, they make sure to do an extensive background check on every person applying for citizenship. Well apparently there was an incident that occurred 40 some years ago and they asked my grandmother about the incident. My grandmother argued that it never occurred and kept insisting on it. My grandfather had to let them know that because of her illness they are somethings that she doesn't remember, but confirmed that the information they had about it was correct.
Even though there were some questions that she didnt know the answers to, they let her recieve her citizenship.
Alzheimer Disease is a form of dementia that can affect memory, behavior, and thinking. It is an incurable disease but can be sustained by taking drugs. Recently, Chicago Tribune had an article that talked about a recent experimental drug that have decreased memory decline in two patients.
The video above goes into more detail about how Alzhiemer Disease come about and what occurs in the brain. This is useful in understanding what exactly it is and now i can finally relate it to my grandmother. I also heard that this disease was hereditary, and im hoping to learn about it now as much as i can because if i begin to suffer from it in the future i'll make sure to find a way to prepare myself for a lifestyle that is beneficial to me!
i can never imagine what it would be like to have a loved one with Alzheimer's Disease. I don,t think i could bare to see my grandma or grandpa loosing all their memories we shared together as a family. I have never spoken to anyone with AD, but what i can tell it is a degenerative disease that takes over a persons ability to overall recall behavior, thinking, and memory. This disease always reminds me of movie The Notebook, how a couple deeply falls in love and then everything is forgotten:( It really makes a person appreciate every living moment of there life. My advice for you would be to love you grandma even more! Make her last memories the best she could ever experience. AD takes a toll also on the family, creating new ways to keep her in sync with you guys may slow down AD. people with AD can get frustrated and irritable when it comes to recalling events or being corrected. patience is key.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to you because I also have someone very close to me who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Unluckily for us, she is already in her final stage and this started about 14 years ago. It is really tough to see them forget all the memories they had from their life. I know that when we all get together and talk about certain things that she would say they all laugh, and me being one of the youngest sometimes I can’t relate and I don’t know what they are talking about since when I was very little she was diagnosed. I certainly have some memories about her and remember some really important moments, but I do not seem to have as much memories about her as other people. I also heard it was genetic and we should truly find out more about how Alzheimer’s disease works so we can be prepared and have more knowledge about this particular dementia. The article you talked about is really interesting, since it brings hope to the people about a possible medication that can slow down the process of Alzheimer's disease. When they talk about a 20% reduction in memory loss, it is amazing, compared to other numbers! I have always had hope in a future cure for AD, not only because someone close to me has it, but for other people as well, including ourselves and our next generations. It is really tough to get to the stage where your loved one forgets how to eat on his/her own and suddenly when they see you they can't quite remember who you are. Truly stay close to her and enjoy every possible moment, in my case I remember all the good memories me and my loved one had, maybe not enough moments but enough for me to always love her. I am very thankful that she is still here today, and hopefully she stays around for more time.
ReplyDeleteYour topic is very interesting. I dislike Alzheimer’s because that is what made my grandma forget all of us. Yes, thank God indeed. She gets to spend her life in the place that she is most happy and makes her feel good. That is how my grandma was, she would make up stories and then some of the things she experienced forgot.
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