Successfully caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease

While sitting at the dinner table with her family a little girl inquisitively looks up at her mother and asked “Why does Grandma eat out of the wooden bowl but the rest of us eat out of our beautiful dishes?” Her mother explained: “Mama’s hands are shaky, and she might drop our good dishes and break them, so she uses the wooden bowl instead.” After thinking about this for a moment, the little girl asked: “Then would you save the wooden bowl for me so I will have it for you when I grow up?” How many think like that little girl about having to take care of our parents. Really this roles reversal is one we do not plan for and enter it unprepared her little girl was planning on taking care of her! Unlike parent who takes care of a child to help them to grow in order to live a full happy productive life, when you begin to take care of a parent you are preparing for the inevitable. When caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimer ’s disease you take will be faced with even greater challenges. However you can successful care for your loved one.  

Regardless of the self doubts and the feelings of inadequacies your success will be possible because of love. The love that you have will enable you to work through the challenges, the trauma, and the fear. When they are lost you will find them and ensure they are safe. When they are confused you will reassure them and help them understand. When they are scared you will let them know that they are safe. When they embarrass you will laugh instead of getting annoyed. When they are angry and react with rage your love will understand that it is not them but the disease.  Yes the love that you have will cover over all the things they do that miss that mark of what you might expect they should do and this is the key to your success.

The love needed to be a successful caregiver is not sentimental. This type of love can actually be more detrimental than anything else. This is because you will have to make some difficult decisions. You have to let your love be guided not by your heart but by your head, knowing that you have to make the best decision for the victim of Alzheimer’s disease. That is what a successful caregiver must do. Yes, it is true that at times your heart might break because of a certain decision that you must make. However you must be strong and do what is right. Remember back to the time your parent said to you “this is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.” Know you are in there shoes and as you think back on the situation that lead your parent to utter those words, no doubt you appreciate the decisions they made for your benefit. Now you must do the same.

Successfully taking care of your loved one with Alzheimer’s disease means that you must take care of yourself first. If you burnout it will be hard for you to keep the light of your loved one burning as brightly as it can. Being a part of a care giving network can help you stay strong. It can help you to appreciate that you are not alone in what you are going through. Join the Alzthere Caregivers network and share your tears, your joy your pain. You can be successfully in caring for a loved with Alzheimer’s disease. Your success can also help other to care for their loved one as well.

Alzthere because you care!

Biggest Need is a Network

There was an interesting article on CNN entitled “Alzheimer’s care giving: Maintain your support network”. It highlighted how there are so many demands on a caregiver that burnout is sure to ensue. One of caregiver’s biggest needs is a Social Network. Prior to taking off on an airplane you receive some safety instructions. Part of those instructions state that you need to place your own oxygen mask on first prior to attempting to assist someone else. This principal applies with care giving. In order to provide adequate care for your loved one you must first provide yourself with the needed care, putting on your oxygen mask.

One of the biggest aids to assist you in this regard is being apart of one or more support groups. Your friends and family form your primary hands on support group. Get them involved. Especially when they ask “What can we do to help?”  Don’t say “Nothing” give them a specific task that they can assist with. Your network wants to help and you need the help.

Another part of your network are the agencies and service providers. Your doctors, lawyer, accountant can all provide you with valuable information that can assist you and share you time, money and heartache.

There are also many online communities where you can share and interact with others who are going through the same things that you are going through. The Alzthere Network is one community that you can add to your network.

Alzthere Because You Care!

About Alzheimer’s Diease

Alzheimer’s disease is also known as AD. Alzheimer’s disease is named after Aloysius “Alöis” Alzheimer, a German physician. In 1901 Alzheimer observed a patient at the Frankfurt Asylum named Mrs. Auguste Deter, the 51-year-old patient had strange behavioral symptoms, including a loss of short-term memory. In 1906 after her death Alzheimer performed an autopsy and described the disease we know as AD. Alzheimer’s is a condition where parts of the brain actual shrink. The part of the brain that is most affected has to deal with memory.

Alzheimer’s disease is thought to account for more than 60 percent of dementia cases, affecting up to 1 in 10 people over 65 years of age.

There are no cures for Alzheimer’s disease only treatment for the symptoms.

Education and Learning are keys to coping and dealing. www.alzthere.com

Alzheimer Resources Online Do Not Match

It is interesting that 5 million plus people have Alzheimer’s in the US. Every minute someone in America develops Alzheimer’s. When an individual develops Alzheimer’s 2 to 6 family members have thier life dramaticly affected. So we are looking at 10,000,000 to 60,000,000 people affected. When I searched the Internet I did not find a corresponding amount of resources for Alzheimer’s caregivers. There is a need for additional resources

Here is what I found doing some basic Google searches

Search Term Google Hits
Alzheimer 24,700,000
Alzheimer Caregivers 546,000
Alzheimer Products 538,000
Alzheimer Resources 498,000
Alzheimer Wandering 101,000

Now the interesting thing about these numbers is that many are duplicates or subsets of the same website. Clearly there is a need for more resources for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers.

http://www.alzthere.com/

The start of Alzthere

I have a good friend who’s mother has Alzheimer’s Diease. Her mother is so eloquent, like royalty. To see here hit with this diease was very sad. Then, to hear the stories of how our friend had challenges finding resources to help them in thier difficulty, it made me think. I should create a website that would compile all the needed resources with Alzheimer’s from a caregiver’s point of view.

So I created the site http://www.alzthere.com/

Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 1 in 10 people over age 65. Alzheimer’s destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also called Alzheimer disease or simply Alzheimer’s, is the most common cause of dementia, afflicting 24 million people worldwide. Each person with Alzheimer’s disease experiences its symptoms and progression differently. Consequently, caregivers face many challenges regarding caring for their loved one.