36,400 Australians have Alzheimer's each year.
So in 40 years, 1,456,000 Australians will have the disease. Australia's population is only 20,090,437.
Posted on 07/23/2006 4:20:02 AM PDT by Aussie Dasher
I know the feeling. Before my Dad reached the really bad stages I would never have thought that I could do what I had to do in caring for him that way, and now that it's over I don't even want to think about it. 9 years afterward it's still painful to remember.
Btw, I am so happy for you that you were able to stay with your Dad at the end of his life, even though it was a real hardship on you and your family.
There are many out there that just would not be bothered.
You are a truly wonderful person! :-)
The daughter of a friend recently got her certification, or whatever you call it, as a LPN, and she worked for a few months at a nursing home after her training . She had to quit because whe couldn't stand to see sick old people treated the way they are in those places.
She said that what goes on at night after there are no relatives or other visitors around was too much for her to take. If it's worse than what I saw during visiting time it must really be awful.
Yes, but it won't help with the psychoses. They'll need another gum machine for pills to stop that.
When I visit she thinks that I am my mother, she no longer remembers that she has grandchildren.
I couldn't begin to tell you of all the sacrifices my parents made for me and my sister over the years. They don't make parents like mine anymore.
Same here--so far, I have not had to deal with it (all my relatives passed at very old ages, and from other problems probably because they were so old), but you never know what the future will bring either. A daily pill that could at least stop its progress sounds like a miracle to me.
Thanks, but believe me, I'm anything BUT a wonderful person. Just ask my wife.
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I, for one, wish I could ask her, I suspect that she might speak more highly of you than you yourself do.
Hey, take some credit for your kindheartedness and your dedication! And best wishes to your Mom, sounds like you have a long life ahead of you with those genetics!
The biggest problem I came across in nursing homes was unintentional neglect. You cant expect a person to do the work of 5 people, no matter how dedicated they are.
I was so busy taking the little ladies to the bathroom it took forever to pass out the meds.
Ah, but the big shots still went home with THEIR paycheck$.
The only people out hoping that this won't work are those that have no idea how devastating Alzheimers can be. I don't care what party you are from. If you know someone with Alzheimers, you will think this is good news. My stepfather suffers from it, and even my ultra liberal sister was thrilled when she read this.
I hate Alzheimers and what it does to people, and I will pray that this medicine is as good as they think it might be.
I should say so! My husband's grandfather recently died at 101, after just a few years with minimal mental functioning.
My father is only 70, though, so I'm praying for a huge breakthrough with each new medical advance.
God bless you! That is inspirational, given the likelihood of our facing the same situation in a few years.
At least she remembers your mother :-). One interesting part of my father's condition is that, although he doesn't always remember my children's names (any more than THEIR father does ... "What's Billy's middle name again?"), he remembers more about his childhood and young adult years, and so he has wonderful, detailed, stories to tell his grandchildren when he visits.
About a year ago, he recited a poem he'd written in school, about a one-legged chicken he kept as a pet during World War II. I suppose that's like other Alzheimer's patients' remembering all the verses of old hymns in German or Polish, when they don't remember their own names.
36,400 Australians have Alzheimer's each year.
So in 40 years, 1,456,000 Australians will have the disease. Australia's population is only 20,090,437.
Population trending towards a predominance of the elderly?
Actually, the Tin Man needed a heart; the Scarecrow needed a brain.
Still, I hope this works out.
My dad still goes fishing and to barbeques and such as that. He LOVES to watch baseball games. When ever he answers the phone I ask him if he knows who I am, and he always says "of course, I know who this is" and then he says my name. He does have some problem remembering some people but his old friends he still remembers well.
My father is only 70, though, so I'm praying for a huge breakthrough with each new medical advance.
Yes, I pray for it too. This pill sounds very promising. It sounds like they make a very rapid recovery after taking the pill. I pray that it will work for your dad too. :o)
I'd like to see it on the market while I still know who I am.
Jokes aside, I had a great aunt with Alzheimer's and can't imagine 1. being elderly yourself while caring for an elderly loved one with Alzheimer's, and 2. not knowing who my son is/my son not seeing any recognition in my eyes. This has to be as devastating for the family as it is for the victim.
It's very difficult. Where my parents live in Florida, many older men and women are caring for a spouse with Alzheimer's. There's one man on my parents' street who can't remember where his house is, if he gets out the door, and many of the neighbors have experienced his turning up at their doors, asking whether it's his house.
Eventually, of course, the suffer doesn't have any frame of reference to understand what's happened, and then the hardship is really for the other family members.
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