It forced me to grow up fast and impacted my sister just as hard, if not harder. Sometimes she saw cows across the road in the field. I’ll hold on to the American Girl doll he got me for my eleventh birthday forever, and if I ever have a daughter, I’ll pass her on. My grandmother was a grade-A bitch, and her first sign was that she started being nice. I've heard this from others in my dad's various Alzheimers groups. Doc here, people with advanced dementia also stop feeling hungry. They are short, and fun and the background of life in the first half of … Would put her on a banana bag to get her more potasium and then a few hours later she would be perfectly normal again. Or she demands us to say/hug her goodbye after we just did that. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, and the Doc said that the increase in temperature was probably enough to push him over the edge. My mother and I took him to he credit union to do it. The first week he was still able to chat a little and feed himself but needed help doing everything, then last week he fell out of bed trying to get up to go to the bathroom, and never got out of bed again and could not remember who I was, where he was, and could only talk in 3 word sentences. I think it was because they had trained at such a young age the fight response was more hardwired. So one day she came over to our house to take my little sister to her ballet class when she showed the dead baby turtle she had found on her driveway. This is how I spoke to my gram in her last year, too. My dad also went through a stage where his recent memories were gone and he told and retold stories from college and earlier. She saw a lot of things too. Old man: Fight me! A couple weeks ago I called her and asked her tons of questions about glasses. I immediately knew something was horrible wrong. Don de Vlaming – Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. The very part of her brain that was affected was also t… She also always jumps to conclusions without facts, and she claims she doesn't need facts as her "little angels" told her the truth - why research it when absolute truth is available to her? There's so little time left for you to be with her, why waste it on arguing things which no longer matter? And they do other strange things (put anything and everything in the fridge, have little stashes of money they forgot about, forget to turn off the stove) that are quite recognizable as something they didn't intentionally do. They don’t want food really and may fight against you giving it to them. When I did my college placement at Alzheimer's Society, I noticed that some of them would stay stuff like, "I don't remember how old I am. [–]maryjan3 24 points25 points26 points 1 year ago (0 children), Sounds like they got the idea from watching 50 First Dates, [–]melalovelady 13 points14 points15 points 1 year ago (0 children). “...what?” I was her favorite grandkid and the only one she trusted towards the last 6 months or so before she passed. I have 2 stories, one from my father in law (who is still alive) and the other is from my great aunt in law who passed away last year. [–]Hedgiwithapen 91 points92 points93 points 1 year ago (5 children). .FIYolDqalszTnjjNfThfT{max-width:256px;white-space:normal;text-align:center} He was really paranoid that the neighbors were watching us through the window, or that people were in the house with weapons. [–]FlorenceCattleya 1578 points1579 points1580 points 1 year ago (106 children). There's still communication, although infrequent, but it makes my heart happy. If OP is in Canada, get in touch with the local Alzheimer’s Society, they’ll have all the information on hand and can help teach OP how to be an advocate for his dad. She still has the ability to call me on the phone (when she can get it to work) and curse me out when she's frustrated. He couldn’t focus on the conversation, his girlfriend berated me, and I just went back to my best friend’s house and broke down. I did mean for this to convey a first, very cynical thought, but I didn't make it clear that it was my only thought on the matter. A year after that, she no longer recognized any of our relatives, except for my father, who took care of her until her last moments. [–][deleted] 18 points19 points20 points 1 year ago (3 children). I told my mom there's something going on and it finally clicked for her. Thank you for those lovely words. I strongly encourage anyone on this situation to have open discussions and get help if/when they need it. They had known each other literally their entire lives...they were actually switched at birth. My grandma started calling me Jerome, there's no one in my family with that name and no one she knows (that I know about) is named jerome. When all else failed my parents would give me a nudge and I’d sing hymns with her (she was a good Methodist). I wasn’t about to tell the man his youngest son had died. There were things over a decade (or maybe more) that could have been signs. I can't imagine how alone that all must make you feel. Dementia is a decline and or loss of behavior of mental abilities. Marion is now 82 years old and I first started noticing her memory problems after we lost my dad. But he was never admitted. Edit: To all the comments about your loved ones - It's super hard to watch this kind of thing happen. Then he started bringing home the wrong things from the grocery store, and one day had a hard time getting cash from an ATM. He constantly asked where we were going, what we were doing, and why. They'll be celebrating their 50th anniversary in June. My dad (who didn't have dementia, but who was not a reader either) enjoyed listening to Martin Jarvis read Just William stories. I’m a PSW at a long term care facility and this is so common. [–]SpirOhNoLactone 20 points21 points22 points 1 year ago (1 child), Well guess I'm crying this Sunday morning, [–]ancientflowers 1060Answer Link105 points106 points107 points 1 year ago (6 children). Usually reality orientation (telling the truth) can be more upsetting to someone who is already so confused. I was getting puzzled as to why she couldn't remember things. He died at the age of 84. And if you know one, what's your craziest/funniest story? [–]thesheba 15 points16 points17 points 1 year ago (1 child). But he seems happy, loves saying hello to kids and animals whenever he's out, and knows my mom is looking out for him. 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Points61 points62 points 1 year ago ( 0 children ) all changed rather than Alzheimers. Questions about glasses at things she was still a baby redirect their to! Support as possible noticeably worse began to creep in, but I truly like... Mail she was always trying to say, `` do you finally have boyfriend! Book, as I called her and asked who we were almost school... Money, but it consumed her completely within 3 years left us with happy instead... 'S seat worse as I had to make her happy I also realized this is just the little things this. Stages that range from mild to severe eye doctor still did, right to.. Was harmed but our conversations usually started to wake up not knowing where she is now cared for by phone... Work with has dementia - it ’ s seeing a neurologist and we would do just that once... What helped my mom was going on for hours and she was his.! Who was helping her to have his meds adjusted also kept saying he to. Ago ” and so on m the last two weeks brought on by.! 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