January is Alzheimher's awareness month in Canada. I did not know this until recently and I doubt that many people do. I don't see any advertising for it, and no one has come to my door soliciting donations and I haven't seen a poster or a newspaper article anywhere. Actually, I stumbled upon it by accident when I was reading an on-line newsletter from the Alzheimer Society of Calgary. I was angered when I found out about it. Angry because if I hadn't been bored and lolly gagging around on the internet, I would have never found out. So, now that I am aware, I'm going to make everyone who reads this, aware. Awareness is the key.
Awareness is the key to early diagnosis of any disease and especially dementia. I knew that mom was aware of it because before her diagnosis she could feel her memory slipping away and she was worried that she was getting Alzheimer's. All of us were worried and it was in the back of our minds but like I had previously posted, we all assumed that it was geriatric mental illness and medications that were causing all this strange behaviour and forgetfulness. Of course, we know now, it was the early stages of Lewy-Body dementia.
Another reason why I was angered is because I'm still angry with myself. Years ago, when mom first started showing signs of dementia I had a gut feeling. That feeling gnawed and gnawed at me but I ignored it. Something kept telling me that some else was wrong with mom, that something else needed to be looked into. Still I ignored it. I have learnt the hard way to always follow your gut and your intuition. I am just starting to forgive myself for my ignorance because and only because the type of dementia that mom has doesn't respond or slow in progression by medications that do slow the progression of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia.
One of the first things I noticed in mom was her paranoia. Mom was always a suspicious person but in one of our phone calls once she accused me of trying to turn Dylan against her and to hate her. She was ranting and raving on about it, screaming at me because Dylan hadn't returned her phone call. Mom didn't get it that Dylan was 16 at the time and was always too busy with her friends and her boyfriend at the time to return her calls. Mom refused to accept that Dylan was just being a teenager and that I would never do anything to turn Dylan against her. I had to hang up on her and unplug the phone for an hour. Later in the day, when she called again, she acted as if nothing had happened and asked if I would get Dylan to call her.
The forgetfulness was also very obvious early on. Especially for birthdays. Mom insisted that my dad was born on the 21st and not the 20th. When I had called to wish him a happy birthday, instead of giving my dad the phone, she argued with me and said I was wrong and to call back tomorrow. Then, later in the year, she called me on the 9th and not the 6th to wish me a happy birthday. I laughed and said to her, "Mom it's not like you to be late with a birthday call," and I was shocked by her answer. She really thought my birthday was the 9th. I didn't argue.
Mom was a great seamstress but she stopped sewing and even sold her serger. She said it was because her eyesight was getting bad but when she sent me a pull over she made for Ryley that had two different sized arms and the zipper was on the inside, I knew it was something more than her eyesight. Mom kept baking but her pies and muffins were usually unfit to eat and I'm guessing it too had more to do with her forgetting than with her eyesight. Every year mom would send knitted or crocheted kitchen clothes. Below is a picture of one I got at x-mas in 2008 and the other is one I got for x-mas 2009.
Mom was sad a lot and not caring about her appearance and often wearing her nightgown around all day. She no longer enjoyed going out for coffee or going to her Red Hatters club or really doing anything. Then she started to get very apathetic towards everything and everyone. This was a woman who would cry at commercials sometimes or phone me so upset by something she had seen on the news. She stopped doing that and stopped caring. She seemed to have little or no emotion even when those close to her passed away or got bad news. Nothing seemed to move any emotion in her.
Those and more are considered to be early signs of dementia. Repetition, forgetfulness, changes in behaviour, changes in moods, paranoia, changes in social skills and trouble doing normal tasks are the main changes to look for.
There is now a test available that identifies mild cognitive impairment and early signs of dementia. It was created in 2010 at The University of Ohio, yes Ohio. It is now being used by physicians all over the world. If anyone reading this has reason to think that their parent or spouse or friend is showing signs of dementia then go to this site and download the SAGE test.
http://www.sagetest.osu.edu/termsandconditions.html IT'S FREE!!!! It could also be the most important freebie you ever get in your life.
So, that is what I have done this Alzheimer's Awareness month 2013. By next year, guaranteed, I will have organized something bigger. Why, because I wish I had been more aware and because I want everyone to be aware. This time last year if someone had told that next year I would be living in Alberta, in my father's basement and caring for my mother who would be suffering with end stage dementia, well I would have called them crazy and laughed in their face. I'm not laughing now and the shock is still wearing off.
Awareness is the key to early diagnosis of any disease and especially dementia. I knew that mom was aware of it because before her diagnosis she could feel her memory slipping away and she was worried that she was getting Alzheimer's. All of us were worried and it was in the back of our minds but like I had previously posted, we all assumed that it was geriatric mental illness and medications that were causing all this strange behaviour and forgetfulness. Of course, we know now, it was the early stages of Lewy-Body dementia.
Another reason why I was angered is because I'm still angry with myself. Years ago, when mom first started showing signs of dementia I had a gut feeling. That feeling gnawed and gnawed at me but I ignored it. Something kept telling me that some else was wrong with mom, that something else needed to be looked into. Still I ignored it. I have learnt the hard way to always follow your gut and your intuition. I am just starting to forgive myself for my ignorance because and only because the type of dementia that mom has doesn't respond or slow in progression by medications that do slow the progression of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia.
One of the first things I noticed in mom was her paranoia. Mom was always a suspicious person but in one of our phone calls once she accused me of trying to turn Dylan against her and to hate her. She was ranting and raving on about it, screaming at me because Dylan hadn't returned her phone call. Mom didn't get it that Dylan was 16 at the time and was always too busy with her friends and her boyfriend at the time to return her calls. Mom refused to accept that Dylan was just being a teenager and that I would never do anything to turn Dylan against her. I had to hang up on her and unplug the phone for an hour. Later in the day, when she called again, she acted as if nothing had happened and asked if I would get Dylan to call her.
The forgetfulness was also very obvious early on. Especially for birthdays. Mom insisted that my dad was born on the 21st and not the 20th. When I had called to wish him a happy birthday, instead of giving my dad the phone, she argued with me and said I was wrong and to call back tomorrow. Then, later in the year, she called me on the 9th and not the 6th to wish me a happy birthday. I laughed and said to her, "Mom it's not like you to be late with a birthday call," and I was shocked by her answer. She really thought my birthday was the 9th. I didn't argue.
Mom was a great seamstress but she stopped sewing and even sold her serger. She said it was because her eyesight was getting bad but when she sent me a pull over she made for Ryley that had two different sized arms and the zipper was on the inside, I knew it was something more than her eyesight. Mom kept baking but her pies and muffins were usually unfit to eat and I'm guessing it too had more to do with her forgetting than with her eyesight. Every year mom would send knitted or crocheted kitchen clothes. Below is a picture of one I got at x-mas in 2008 and the other is one I got for x-mas 2009.
Mom was sad a lot and not caring about her appearance and often wearing her nightgown around all day. She no longer enjoyed going out for coffee or going to her Red Hatters club or really doing anything. Then she started to get very apathetic towards everything and everyone. This was a woman who would cry at commercials sometimes or phone me so upset by something she had seen on the news. She stopped doing that and stopped caring. She seemed to have little or no emotion even when those close to her passed away or got bad news. Nothing seemed to move any emotion in her.
Those and more are considered to be early signs of dementia. Repetition, forgetfulness, changes in behaviour, changes in moods, paranoia, changes in social skills and trouble doing normal tasks are the main changes to look for.
There is now a test available that identifies mild cognitive impairment and early signs of dementia. It was created in 2010 at The University of Ohio, yes Ohio. It is now being used by physicians all over the world. If anyone reading this has reason to think that their parent or spouse or friend is showing signs of dementia then go to this site and download the SAGE test.
http://www.sagetest.osu.edu/termsandconditions.html IT'S FREE!!!! It could also be the most important freebie you ever get in your life.
So, that is what I have done this Alzheimer's Awareness month 2013. By next year, guaranteed, I will have organized something bigger. Why, because I wish I had been more aware and because I want everyone to be aware. This time last year if someone had told that next year I would be living in Alberta, in my father's basement and caring for my mother who would be suffering with end stage dementia, well I would have called them crazy and laughed in their face. I'm not laughing now and the shock is still wearing off.
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