Some have wondered how I pulled through all of this at a young age. You can choose to fall apart or continue on. It's amazing how much strength one can find when there's no options.When I came back to Houston to take care of my mom, I was 24. What does a 24 year old really know about the world or Alzheimer's disease? Not much, but you learn along the way.
I wasn't alone. My soon to be wife and Tina, a family friend, were extremely important throughout the process. There were others as well.
Alzheimer's is a terrible disease. So is cancer and all of the others out there.
It's easy to think of Alzheimer's as an ailment that robs your memory. It does that, but that's just the beginning. Imagine your body forgetting how to operate -- that includes involuntary functions. It's all kind of intermittent along the way too. The patient appears to snap in and out of it quickly and often. It just keeps progressively getting worse. Early onset Alzheimer's seems to move the fastest.
Experts say it is like moving through life with a bunch of strobe lights flashing at you mixed with buzzers and other noises...all at once. CNN did a story a few years ago about researchers trying to simulate this effect for AD caretakers.
The parent becomes the child and the child the parent.
It was very hard to clean out my mom's house after she left for the assisted living facility. She moved out in 2003. It's taken me from that point until now to be able to move on. Yesterday I signed papers for a buyer to purchase it.
I keep thinking God must of had a reason for us to go through this. What good can come out of it? I'm hoping to one day start a web site that will have resources for people in my family's situation living in and around Harris County. When I first started looking, there wasn't much out there.
Maybe it's gotten better. Nevertheless, I could share my experiences and what I learned. CONTACT: Leave me a Houston or Texas media news tip | COMMENT: Click to leave your thoughts on this post here
