Watch out for your Alzheimer’s family member (and yourself if you’re “senior”) if Obama’s Stimulus Bill sneaks through in its current form.
  Deep within the multiple pages of the bill is a provision for a collecting one’s medical records on a national data base and appointing health care coordinators who will “approve” your care and perscriptions. 
As ultimately planned, your doctor will have to get permission for your treatment, possibly by someone not medically trained but only looking at the bottom dollar or cost effectiveness:

 Is the cost of treating this person (you or your Alzheimer’s family member) economically worthwhile, considering age, life expectency and …read more

Journaling
As a writer, I usually can write down my thoughts in my journal regularly. This also is something often recommended when people are going through difficult times, as well as joyful ones.  Sometimes, too, you simply want to chronicle events in your life so you can recall them later.
However, as I look back, I find that sometimes during challenging times, I’ve found it difficult to write my thoughts immediately about the events.  My journal goes through a dry spell. This happened when my brother committed suicide, my mother died, and our daughter went through a grave illness.  Perhaps I’m too involved, my emotions too …read more

Quilting & Alzheimer’s

After I wrote the post, Sharing Quilting with Your Alzheimer’s Patient and Family, Betty told about her experiences with her mom and quilting.  She told how she includes her mom in her activities.
My Mom’s got dementia and she enjoys watching me select the colors for my quilts. She also likes to pick up the fallen scraps off the floor and carry them around. I let her keep them, unless they’re needed for a specific project. Last time I took her to a quiltshow, she wandered off and was lost for awhile. Now I go to the shows alone, but take lots …read more

AlzheimersNotes.com

Remembering 9/11 occurred across the country today. 
 At the school where I was substitute teaching, the students and faculty gathered at the flag pole in front of the building.  Police and firemen from the community, along with other citizens joined them for a short talk, pledge of allegiance, and to sing “This Land is Your Land.”
On 9/11/01, I also was substitute teaching, in first grade that day, when the principal stopped by my room and handed me a note, mentioning what was happening and that the television in the teacher’s room was on.  Until we knew more, we weren’t to alarm …read more

Sports: Legendary coach, Frank Broyles, helped wife with Alzheimer’s battle – “Over the decades, the game changed, but one thing remained the same: The love always was there…” (more)
Boy, 2, Suffers From Rare Children’s Alzheimer’s Condition – “A 2-year-old boy in England suffers from a rare genetic disease sometimes referred to as Children’s Alzheimer’s disease…” (more)
Not your grandmother’s Alzheimer’s – “Carol Kirsch relished her demanding position as a sales trainer for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland. But a couple of years ago, a good friend told Kirsch she just wasn’t performing up to par. She was missing deadlines. And she’d forget …read more

AlzheimersNotes.com
“Which one of has Alzheimer’s?  Mother or me?”I’d sometimes wonder when I tried to figure our which of the “me’s” I was. 
At one time Mother thought I was two people…Mary Emma (me, moi) and “that other” woman who was trying to steal my husband!  Then there were occasions when I wondered which one I was.  Or was I someone else entirely watching the whole scenerio. 
The first time it happened, Mother said, ”That other woman was here while you were at Joanie’s (Mother’s neighbor).”
“Which woman?” I asked, thinking a friend had stopped by and Mother had forgotten her name.
“That other one Jim has …read more

Uncle Ralph’s rapture – “Stefan Merrill Block had never met his Uncle Ralph, but he knew all about his catastrophic life. When they eventually came face to face, he found an old man finally – and blissfully – set free by the oblivion of Alzheimer’s..” (more)
Remembering intimacy – “Hallie Pasko knew her mother’s new relationship had gotten serious when the 85-year-old woman told her she needed a bigger bed – so her boyfriend could sleep over…” (more)
Let’s get it started: Family to hit pavement for Alzheimer’s research – “Kate Hassan, a Waltham resident, has fond memories of the time she …read more

OurAlzheimers.com has a feature article When a Mind Begins to Disappear: A Young Family’s Journey to the Dark Side that follows the Mueller family’s journey of change as Jim Mueller developed Alzheimer’s disease. Jim was in his early 30’s when the initial symptoms began…
“When they said Jim had Alzheimer’s, I was in shock,” Jim’s wife, Michelle, quietly recalls. “I mean, I had heard of Alzheimer’s because of President Reagan. And I had worked at one time when I was younger to care for someone with Alzheimer’s (but) I thought that was for people when they got older. And I really …read more

Celebrated artist, Josh Dorman, explains what people with Alzheimer’s disease have taught him about the art of listening. (part of the Memory Bridge project)

In February, I posted about the Bucks County Courier Times running a series of articles on Alzheimer’s Disease. At that time, only one article had been printed.
I discovered the second in the series the other day. This article, Mourning meets multi-tasking, continues to focus on Lorraine and Marjorie Jackson (mother and daughter) as they deal with the impact of Alzheimer’s disease.
“…The first time Marjorie Jackson answered a collection agency call about her mom’s overdue credit card bill, she thought it was a mistake.
After calls about three other missed credit card payments, a late phone bill and a past-due home …read more