Braddock, VC Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 My elderly neighbour came round with a christmas card yesterday. He has been diagnozed with alzheimers so the street gossip goes and I have to say I was absolutely shocked by his appearance etc. I'm in my late 70s (mods please note the non apostrophe) and he's probably 6 or 7 years older than me. At the beginning of the year, before lockdown, he appeared fine, the degeneration in 10 months is absolutely heart rending and my sympathy goes out to all who suffer from it and equally important their relatives and carers. I've watched one of my close friends expire from motor neurone disease and several from cancer and whilst they are equally devastating in the result, the absolute lostness for want of a better term in my neighbour defies description. I don't expect any comments I just had to do a bit of outpouring to come to terms with a complaint I can statistically expect to be exposed to one way or another Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan p Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 When the devastating effects of these illnesses are seen they are shocking , and will be amplified by the present emergency . The quote " there but for the grace of god(or whoever) go I" comes into focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Echo the above; lost my grandad to it, did not recognise my mum in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Colbourne Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Braddock, VC Its good that you raised this subject. Clearly Alzheimers/Dementia is on the rise and its a big issue that nobody seems to be dealing with well. The current Coronavirus situation has only made things a lot worse. The last thing people with dementia need is to be isolated from others. They need stimulation and people around to make sure they don't endanger themselves and others. My girlfriend and I have been looking after my mother for 20 months now. We're very fortunate that there's two of us. Anyone caring by themselves for an Alzheimer's sufferer, particularly if they are elderly partners, or other relatives, who are doing so without help have a particularly hard time of it. From my experience, local authorities, doctors surgeries etc. have very little idea of what is needed. The Alzheimer's Society closed down all their local offices at the start of the first lockdown, so they can only give general information from a distant central office. One of the best descriptions of the phases of Alzheimers is this video by 'Big Clive' who is better known for his electronics projects, analysing dangerous Chinese products from Ebay and blowing stuff up. He doesn't pull any punches, so you actually get the info the NHS and charities feel might upset some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Manuel Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 A very cruel disease indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Manuel Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Just watched the video posted by Robin. It's a brilliant and accurate insight into the condition. Well worth watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Posted by Braddock, VC on 18/12/2020 12:26:05: My elderly neighbour came round with a christmas card yesterday. He has been diagnozed with alzheimers so the street gossip goes and I have to say I was absolutely shocked by his appearance etc. I'm in my late 70s (mods please note the non apostrophe) and he's probably 6 or 7 years older than me. At the beginning of the year, before lockdown, he appeared fine, the degeneration in 10 months is absolutely heart rending and my sympathy goes out to all who suffer from it and equally important their relatives and carers. I've watched one of my close friends expire from motor neurone disease and several from cancer and whilst they are equally devastating in the result, the absolute lostness for want of a better term in my neighbour defies description. I don't expect any comments I just had to do a bit of outpouring to come to terms with a complaint I can statistically expect to be exposed to one way or another I'm afraid we're both in the demographic that we're losing friends to various illnesses or just old age. I'll be 81 next month. I've lost one friend to MND shockingly quickly and a few to one form or another of cancer and it's heartbreaking. Dementia of one form or another is perhaps more distressing to those looking on than the victims themselves - hopefully they don't notice their deteroration but who knows? My mother-in-law was a former head teacher and published writer who ended up spitting out her food and being violent to her carers as well as not recognising my wife, her daughter. It really is a very, very cruel condition. Dad suffered some deterioration before he died back in 1991. I got him a tape recorder to play book tapes as he was finding it difficult to concentrate well enough to read and he couldn't remember how to operate it! This was a man who used to repair them and introduced ne to voice recording on a wire recorder back in 1950. It was probably his osteo-TB pain getting the better of him but still painful. He was my technical back-up formerly. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 after you have lost one of your family to the horrible disease that is Alzheimer's you cant appreciate the fact of what a horrible thing it is.you are so helpless watching them go down hill and eventually end up locked in their body....great sympathy to anyone who has a friend or family member with it.. ken anderson...ne...1...… Alzheimer's dept.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Carr Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Posted by ken anderson. on 18/12/2020 15:29:28: after you have lost one of your family to the horrible disease that is Alzheimer's you cant appreciate the fact of what a horrible thing it is.you are so helpless watching them go down hill and eventually end up locked in their body....great sympathy to anyone who has a friend or family member with it.. ken anderson...ne...1...… Alzheimer's dept.. Agree 100%. My father in law went that way, it was horrible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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