Mr. Johnson, you have dementia.
No other instructions. Nada. So I, his wife and caregiver, had to come up with a plan. On retrospect, I wish he had been told these instructions.
- Mr. Johnson, live life for each day.
- Organize your finances.
- You don't need to work forever. Plan to retire.
- Your mind will play tricks on you and you need to trust your wife to be your helpmate and help you to decide each day. She will give you a schedule so you know what is happening.
- Stop using guns and equipment that might not be safe for you or others. Eventually you will not be safe to drive.
- You will eventually need help recognizing your surroundings because you do not feel at home. You want to "go home". But accept your wife and other caregivers judgments.
- This life is not all. You as a Christian have heaven to look forward to. Your wife and others will be there for you.
But we learned as we went along.
Happy Birthday in Heaven,
sweetheart!
I will always remember you.
Happy Birthday Herb! Its a shame, Carol, that the doctor didn't give any more advice than simply just telling Herb that he had dementia. At least directing him to a web site or a support group or something would have been helpful.
ReplyDeleteThe instructions you came up with afterward are brilliant ones and ones to keep in mind if I ever am faced with it on either side, either me getting dementia or hubby getting dementia.
You did a great job taking care of Herb during that whole time and you allowed him the dignity to be able to stay at home and not be in any other type of care facility.
betty
Our doctor was so wonderful!! He gave me a lot of literature about Alzheimers and care giving and gave us a prescription for Aricept, funny how that prescription for a medication made me feel better. I had suspected the disease for so long that I had already read everything I could get my hands on about the disease and started
ReplyDeleteimplementing many changes in our life.
Take one hour, one day at a time. Grieve, cry and move forward working to enjoy each day.
Everyone handles the news of this disease in a different way.
For those people whose relative are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and maybe reading this, I find it hard that people are still ignorant of herbal medicine when it comes to treating Alzheimer’s Disease.
ReplyDeleteI have been through many phases over the last couple of years since my father's diagnosis, he was 53 years old and had Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and his diagnosis changed my life in many ways, I spend most of the time in denial and I keep thinking the tests were wrong. But deep down I knew they were correct. Though sharing his story is very difficult. He was always very successful in being able to accomplish anything he set his mind on doing. Alzheimer’s is a bitch of a disease. It began by robbing his recent memory, but it didn't stop there. It continues to steal, taking the most recent memories until it has pilfered all but the oldest memories, he experienced a decline in his ability to think, remember and make decisions. I feel a need to express my thoughts and feelings about how it affected his day to day living and how its deteriorated since despite the help of some wonderful medics and medicine.
I remind myself how lucky to come across Charanjit rychtova's herbal medicine which is able to control this disease without any side effect, I felt a moment of relief hoping that he is free from this ailment, and nothing compares to the healing power of nature. Now I believe almost every health problem can be addressed in one natural way or another. The only thing I wanted was for him to feel better. I’m proud to say my Dad is Alzheimer’s free. You can also contact him for advice and more info. charantova@gmail.com
Wow! Just hope this is not a scam, Leigh Schneider. What research to do have to back up this claim?
DeleteWe tried coconut oil based on a book; however, the husband of the doctor who wrote the book has died.