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I console myself by thinking that both my parents were alcoholics who fried their brain cells. Therefore, because I rarely drink, I won't get it. Maybe not true, but it comforts me.

Of my four grandparents, one (also an alcoholic) had dementia, and one only lived to 54 (skin cancer). The other two (paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather) were spitfires till they died. So there's no way of knowing which way the genetic wheel will spin....
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Dear GingerMay,

Since my father and grandmother passed, I have this general worry too. I don't know what's worst sometimes losing one's body or one's mind. I am trying to eat better, move more and I hope be able to tell my loved ones in advance how I wanted to be cared for in case this happens to me.
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Oh yes. My LO was 62 when diagnosed with VD. It's terrifying. I discovered that I was freaking myself out with stress, exhaustion, poor diet, etc. So, I started eating better and making my health a priority. I improved and so did my memory, concentration, focus, etc. Then, when I felt real feisty, I got my realtor license! It was not easy. I had to prove it to myself and I feel ok now.

I think we get so absorbed with caretaking and the person's ailments, like dementia, that we are too close. I've read where this happens to a lot of caregivers.
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Ginger, I know exactly what you mean. I had also studied up on the disease to a point of overload information. I wanted to be ready, but all that studying I really didn't need as my parents bouts with dementia were only a few months before they passed in their 90's. Everything else was general age decline.

I am in general age decline due to my age [early 70's] but if I forget something, or find a miss-typed word, or I forgot to do something, I go into a frenzy and get the shakes. Oh how I wished I could be uninformed about dementia for myself. There would be less sleepless nights :P
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