The Frustration Of It All When Someone You Love Has Alzheimers

Finding out that someone you love has Alzheimers is a crushing blow to your heart....you never recover, at least I haven't. My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers at the age of 61 and on the day of her diagnosis, my life was changed forever. A co-worker and friend described it best when she said that "Alzheimers breaks your heart and leaves you frustrated." The only people that can relate are the ones that have been through the heart wrenching agony. It eats away at you more and more every day. The further your loved one slips away, the more frustrated you become. Frustrated because there is no cure, no financial help, no hope.

My mother was once this happy woman who loved her life and loved her job. She worked at JC Penney's for 32 years and loved every minute of it. Her job was her life and she had many friends at work. I started noticing odd little things about her every now and then but nothing that ever really concerned me. The first thing that I noticed about my mother that was different was her behavior at times. She would say odd little things at times that sometimes didn't make any sense but then she would laugh at herself, so it didn't seem like any big deal. When my aunt (my mom's sister) passed away from pancreatic cancer, this affected my mother very deeply. She was very close to her sister and would visit her every year in Germany. My mother seemed very confused after my aunt's death and would cry often. The change in her behavior became noticeable where she worked. She could no longer count money or remember what she was doing. Some of the simplest things became difficult for her. Her comprehension level was not the same. This is when I decided that it was imperative that she see a doctor. She was reluctant to see a doctor because I feel she feared the worst. Now that I look back, I think she knew that something really bad was happening and tried very hard to hide it. She blew things off and always said that she was fine. She always had some sort of excuse for her odd behavior.