We have two neighbors, the husband of each who has developed Alzheimer's. It is really sad to see the effects of this horrible disease on these two, otherwise healthy, men, as they slowly deteriorate mentally. This has to be especially hard on their spouses, who now have to take care of everything. One of the couples still walk their dog daily (as we do,) and Saturday we met them and she slipped me a note with their name, address, and phone number asking me to please call her if I saw her husband wandering. She said she was giving a note like that to all us "dog walkers."

Just hope that none of us ever get into this situation.

 

I watched my father-in-law slip away that way.
I'm a digital engineer. My life is ones and zeroes, on and off.
It's how I hope to live out my life, on until I'm off. None of this in between, fading away crap.

I'd recommend they look into some of the senior GPS trackers. https://smartwatches.org/learn/best-...-gps-trackers/
It could be important in finding them during bad weather.

 

It's an awful disease. It took Rick's Mom, and I think the stress of caring for her took his Dad first.

 

 

My mom took care of her mom on my mom and dad's home during the last couple of years when Grandma was slowly slipping away into Alzheimer's oblivion. I was already on my own and living in the south when this happened, and Mom and I have never talked about it much. But I'm betting that the fact that there were two of them, my Mom and my Dad, to shoulder the burden made a big difference. Mom is not a brittle person. She is pretty tough in her way. But that two years had to have taken a toll. I am headed up to Delaware next week for a few days to see Mom and Dad. Maybe I will see if it is something she wants to open up a little about.

A little smile on this grim topic: "When I go, I want to go quietly in my sleep, like my uncle Bill. Not screaming and carrying on like the passengers in his car at the time."

 

My best friend's mother has Alzheimer's. He and his sister go to see her "every" Monday morning, non-stop, week after week, month after month, year after year. It frankly boggles my mind to see such I can't tell you how many years its gone on but believe me, its been many!

 

I don't mean to be political here, but this country needs a euthanasia law. Medical advances can keep a person alive until they are dust in a bathrobe. I don't begrudge those who want to keep their hearts beating until their poor kids have to tell the doctors to pull the plug, so please stop telling others they have to keep on living regardless of their condition. I have no desire to become a zombie in a nursing home on medicare. I'd rather my loved ones remember me as the pain in the ass that told them to sit up straight and get a job rather than the pain in the ass that needed someone to wipe his chin because he couldn't remember how to eat soup with a spoon.

 

 

We notice this more as we reach an age where our loved ones or friends start having issues. Alzheimer's is an especially evil b!tch of a disease. I had a grandma that went with it, but the only bright side was that my grandpa died first, and she lived the rest of her days in a care facility always thinking he was at work and coming home soon, so she did not go through the devastating realization that he was gone. Very sad and very hard to handle.

A co-worker about the same age as me had his second heart attack a couple of weeks ago. Not trim and fit, but certainly not way overweight and not lazy as far as I know. A reminder as we get older that the risk goes up .. no one likes that at 41 years old!

I have also watched my dad dealing with these realities. He is 71 and still works (mechanic) and rides motorcycle's. He heard from his good friend from high school recently. He could barely speak and could barely get around. He informed my dad that their other two close friends were in equally bad shape .. apparently my dad is the only one in the group without seriously declining health. That is hard for a person to take no matter how you look at it. Good that he is still healthy, but a painful reminder that folks his age are falling ill and dying.

 

I agree Bill. My mother had severe dementia and didn't know anyone but me and my wife. She couldn't even talk just blurted out garble. She ultimately died from a UTI. I don't want to be in that condition and hope I pass from something else.