DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,713
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Post by DanMcQ on Jul 6, 2010 9:35:28 GMT -5
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Post by SirSaxa on Jul 6, 2010 9:59:25 GMT -5
Sorry to read about that. It is happening to millions of people across the country and is a huge challenge for all of their families. Dean has always been a class act and a close friend of JT's since he was a HS coach in DC 40 years ago. he did it the right way.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,387
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Post by hifigator on Jul 6, 2010 10:51:48 GMT -5
I just skimmed the article, and it's sad for sure. I didn't notice the "Alzheimer's" word, but that is what it sounds like. That is such a bad one because you simply have zero confidence in whatever the person tells you. It's awful and you know that they can't help it. You also know that you can't "explain" it to them, no matter how hard you try. My best friend's mom has Alzheimers and it is almost impossible to interact. You just don't even know if the person knows who you are, what you are saying, what day it is, what time it is or even comprehend any of the daily rumedial tasks, what they are for and why they are doing them -- much less whether they have already done them today.
A great uncle on the other side of my family also has Alzheimers. The irony is that he is incredibly fit for his 80+ year old body. Up until just 5 or 6 years ago, he would jog several miles a day. Sadly, my great Aunt is not in the physical shape he is. But in a weird twist of irony, her mind is perfect. So here he is, physically able to get himself into all kinds of trouble because his mind is mostly gone and here she is fully aware of what needs to be done, but so limited physically that she has trouble doing it.
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hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,243
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Post by hoyarooter on Jul 6, 2010 13:03:41 GMT -5
This stinks, and so do the goings on with hifi's great uncle and aunt (and all similar scenarios involving dementia). Very, very sad.
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2ndRyan
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by 2ndRyan on Jul 6, 2010 14:41:02 GMT -5
It seems like in some who are stricken, short-term memory goes but long-term memory hangs on.
Three years after being stricken, my mother who didn't know what day it was, what she had for lunch, or who her daughter-in-law of ten years was, could, aided by pictures in a scrapbook, recall many of the details of an outing to Old Beach Maine 60 years earlier.
My family has benefitted from the care of patient people who seem to me to get their Go to Heaven ticket punched daily. One hopes and suspects the Smith family will have the resources to surround Dean with what he needs.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,387
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Post by hifigator on Jul 6, 2010 15:39:47 GMT -5
The one line from the article is oh so true: some days are better than others. There are, in fact good days and bad days. Anyone who has been through the elderly in these situations can attest to that. It is literally like night and day difference from day to day sometimes.
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DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by DFW HOYA on Jul 17, 2010 12:53:51 GMT -5
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,387
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Post by hifigator on Jul 19, 2010 12:49:10 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that DFW
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