When your loved one is first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it understandably puts your entire family on a roller coaster of emotions.
What do you do know?
What’s going to happen next?
What types of medications exist, and what can they do?
In answer to the latter question, KnowItAll has a great resource for understanding the different types of medicines available for people with Alzheimer’s.
When you begin suspecting your parent or loved one has Alzheimer’s or dementia, make a commitment to yourself to begin gathering data. Even though your loved one may not admit she’s having memory trouble, or may not even go in to the doctor’s for an official diagnosis, there’s no better time than to start the organization process.
Put together a list of all insurance policies. Include companies, agent’s information, policy numbers and details. Ask about health, life, long term care, long term disability, home and car insurance.
Put together a list of all bank related information. Where does she have accounts, bank account numbers, detailed information, and where she keeps her safety deposit boxes.
Put together a file of important paper work. Include Wills, Veteran’s Administration paperwork, stocks, bonds, property deeds, mortgages, power of attorneys, car titles.
Now’s the time to initiate items that may be insufficient. Talk about updating wills, creating power of attorneys, and beliefs and wishes concerning living wills.
List major assets. Jewelry, artwork, and other valuables will have more meaning if you understand the history behind it, and know its true value.
photo source Wade From Oklahoma
1. Choose 10 to 20 or your loved one’s favorite songs. Take out one word from the title, and have your loved one fill in the blanks.
2. Buy an easy Sodoku puzzle book and have your loved one do one puzzle per day.
3. Choose a crossword puzzle and work it together.
4. Word searches are a great way to keep the mind and her eyesight going.
5. Buy puzzles and work them without looking at the picture. Choose a puzzle with enough pieces to challenge but not frustrate.
6. How about a game of cards? Head to the toy section at your local discount store. Even a game of old maid can be fun.
7. How about a game of trivia? There are many games of trivia both in the stores and online. Or make up your own trivia questions based on your loved one’s history.
8. Read a good book together. Then have a book discussion. You may even ask a few of your loved one’s friends over to make it a party.
9. How about scrapbooking? It’s a great way to organize the stacks of photos and clippings and create something meaningful together.
10. Matching games can also help with memory. It’s easy to make a matching game with pictures of your loved one’s favorite things, and attach them to index cards.
Alzheimer’s is hard enough for us to understand. In many cases, it seems to go from diagnosis to complete caregiving incredibly fast. How do you cope with it all?
But what about your children? It’s very difficult for a child or teen to understand what has happened to grandma or grandpa. Will they get it to? Is it contagious?
Michael Plontz posted a great article on helping children understand more about Alzheimer’s, and how you can explain it to your child.
A great read for anyone facing Alzheimer’s.
One of the hardest things to admit to is a loved one having Alzheimer’s. Yet with an early diagnosis, there are things you can do.
Here’s a wonderful list by Jacqueline Marcell on how to tell if your loved one may have Alzheimer’s.
In many cases, a senior will ignore the symptoms because they don’t want to admit that anything is wrong. It’s up to the loved ones around them to notice the little things, and gently nudge them into testing.
For a quick phone test that will provide you with initial results without having to go the doctor, try the Brain Health Check. In 20 minutes, you can have an initial diagnosis that will provide you with answers.
The conclusion from medical research continues to show that depression is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, not a result of the disease, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
The Alzheimer’s Association just released their new report - 2008 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.
As many as 5.2 million people are currently living in the United States with Alzheimer’s, with 10 million baby boomers likely to develop Alzheimer’s in their lifetime.
The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid, and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year.
All of this has a direct impact on caregivers, and will continue to impact caregivers for many years to come.
While there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, with new detection tests in the horizon, hope may be in the near future.
A new blood test could be on the market as early as this summer to test and detect your probability of getting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, states a new article .
Currently the two diseases can only be detected and diagnosed once symptoms develop. These new tests would allow screening to determine the probability of developing the diseases in the future.
Detection would allow scientists to further develop statistics for how many people are at risk for developing these diseases, and raising awareness on the true extent of the population these diseases will effect. It may also give scientists what they need to find a cure, preventing future generations from developing these diseases at all.
Living with Alzheimer’s can mean many things to many people. But as a spouse, it can be especially traumatic.
CNN reported in an article this week about the effects of caring for a spouse with Alzheimers long before diagnosis. After living for years as friends, lovers and partners, to be suddenly faced with someone who’s changing right before your eyes, with no idea why can be a scary experience. Beyond reasoning. All can be used to describe a relationship effected with Alzheimers.
In many cases Alzheimers can be a part of your life long before your realize it. Mood swings. Temper tantrums.
Early diagnosis can be the key to understanding. The earlier you discover the root problem, the quicker you can begin holding on to the relationship you’ve built over time.
Check out TheAlzheimerSpouse for helpful resources.
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