This week I want to cover something that has hit me pretty close to home. As it turns out, my grandmother has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. If you know someone who has been diagnosed, then rest assured I feel your pain. It is hard to see someone slowly slip away from you mentally, but I realize that the key thing to do is be there for them at all times because this is most likely scaring them more than it is scaring you. So this week I'll cover some general info about Alzheimer's disease because one of the things that help keep me from freaking out about this is learning more about it and sharing that knowledge with others.
I'm not going to lie — you, dear readers, are going to help me cope this week.
It was either write my article or use this...
What is Alzheimer's? Well, it is a disease that, like other dementia-related disorders, destroys memory, intellectual and social ability in patients. It is the most common form of dementia, accounting for about 60–70 percent of all dementia cases. It is not quite clear what really causes Alzheimer's, but there is evidence that it is linked to genetics, which is one of the reasons why my dad and I are having a little bit more stress on the situation. I mean, I may only be 23 years old, but I can still worry about the future.
Usually, it will begin to present in people over the age of 65, although there are rare cases in which it starts earlier. Daily tasks slowly become harder to carry out because of the start of progressive cognitive impairment. Memory will begin to slip, and that happens with small things, such as what day it is or where you had recently placed an item. Many people know the whole shtick about losing your keys in the refrigerator, but it does happen.
Language will start to degrade, and that presents a problem for us because Grandma's first language is not English. She fluently speaks Japanese and Korean. English was learned later in her life, and it is probably going to disappear faster than her native tongues. Eventually, even the simplest tasks become impossible, and that's the point where external care is going to be needed.
See, the real stress from all of this is that we are the only real support she has right now, and most of that is my dad.
He is currently living down at her house and is trying to take care of her as best as he can while continuing to work. I have to say that he has the patience of a saint right now because of all of the doctor's appointments he takes her to, meals he prepares for her and tasks he tries to get her to do just to keep her mind active.
Now that the semester is over, my sister and I are going to start going down there a whole lot to give him a break, because we know the stress is absolutely killing him.
So please make sure you keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. With luck, she will still have a few good years left.
I think this will be the perfect opportunity to try to interview her to try to get her life's story. She has been through a lot, and this will probably be the hardest trial of her life. Hopefully by getting her to talk about her life, I can help stave off some of the symptoms for a little while longer.
