Alzheimers 

Alzheimers is a very difficult disease for practically any family to deal with. When I got married 12 years ago, my Father-In-Law was a fun loving, happy go lucky game playing individual.

We didn’t quite understand at first what was happening to him. Initially, we figured it was just part of the aging process. He would almost always forget what he was doing, or where he put the carkeys or some other item. No one realized at the time, that each of us was about to start down a seemingly long and very difficult road.

Alzheimers disease affects ones' mind in such a way, that the person cannot function under normal situations. In our particular situation, my father in law started living more in the past, and less in the present. I remember one time, when my mother in law was sick and in a nursing home, he couldn’t remember where she was. “Where is she?”, he would ask. She is over at the hospital, we would say. Not five minutes later, we would repeat the exact same discussion. We would do this over and over as time passed.

In our case, as Alzheimers progressed, Dad would stop recognizing us. One time, my husband went to visit and Dad hollered and yelled at the strange man who had come over. Dad even threw a punch when the strange man known as his son came into the home.

Alzheimers is a disease that never seems to stop. As Dad’s condition worsened, he would start wandering off – not knowing where he was. We had to get a door alarm that would sound when the door was opened to keep him from leaving.

However, even that didn’t work all the time. One time, in winter, Dad wandered off in his P.J.s. We had to call the police to help us find him.

Now Dad has moved to a secure facility that is designed to care for patients with Alzheimers. He seems happy, but it is hard for us, to see his life so drained of what it was and what it could still be if he didn’t have Alzheimers disease. I think Alzheimers is a disease that affects the whole family.

If we visit, he doesn’t know who we are. He doesn’t even remember that we were there. He still remembers that he was married, but he doesn’t remember to whom he was married to.

What causes Alzheimers? The doctors don’t know for sure. Doctor’s know that each patient reacts differently to the disease and the disease progresses differently for each person. There is still no treatment for the disease. For our family, we take comfort knowing that Dad is happy and not in pain, even if he doesn’t know us anymore.

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