Slashdot

[giza]

I read Slashdot pretty much on a daily basis. I browse the discussions for the articles at +4, so a lot of the crap gets filtered out.

Most the stuff I see at scores of 4 and 5 are pretty high quality. But, every once in awhile, something comes along that completely blows me away. Like this comment about Alzheimer's.

If I could mod that post +1, Tearjerker, I would.

And if I ever get Alzheimer's someday? Just sedate me on the bad days. Don't make me go through what the poster's grandmother does, okay?

Comments

[simbab.livejournal.com]

Not to quibble with the commenter or anything, but I don't think that Alzheimer's is "what happens when your brain starts to degrade". It's a distinct disease, it's not something that becomes more likely or even inevitable as you get older. My own grandmother has it fairly badly in her mid-70s. Her husband is the same age and just fine mentally (although his knees are giving him some trouble). My maternal grandparents are that age too and are still doing the snowbird thing. My maternal grandfather's mother (my great-grandmother) is still alive at 99, if a bit feeble and slightly incoherent, but definitely not afflicted with Alzheimer's.

It's a nasty condition, no doubt about it. But it is not simply dementia due to age. That happens, but it's not Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is a special brand of awful...it's not vanilla dementia.

[triggur.livejournal.com]

I've already let my family know that if I ever approach that sort of incapacitation, I'm to be fed every pill in the house and a bottle of vodka to wash it down. Gary's issued the same order. We know too many people with Alzheimer's stricken parents and have watched too much heartache to want anyone we love to through that.

A good friend (Carol) is in her 70's, her life partner (Betty) near 80. Carol spends most of her time caregiving for a woman who no longer even recognizes her.

There's a number of incapacities that would render me unwilling to live further... not being all there anymore tops the list.

[giza.livejournal.com]

I thought about that, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to write off my entire existance even if I was terminal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that, when terminal, one tends to have "good days" and "bad days". I'm all for being hopped up on morphine and friends on the bad days, but I would want to do everything I could to make the most of the good days.

Of course, I've never cared for anyone who is terminal, so I might be way off here.

[triggur.livejournal.com]

I say that mostly because I don't want my loved ones to have to deal with me on the bad days. It's not for my sake, it's for theirs.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Ya know, that's a really good point. So far I had been thinking about things on my end, not theirs. Good call.

[xoagray.livejournal.com]

I think it's more a matter of degree. I went back to New York two years ago to take care of my mother who was in the final period of her life. She had moments of incoherance, due to lack of oxygen (her respatory system and heart were giving out), and sometimes it made for some really scarry times. But for the most part, she was posessive of her cognative skills to the point that she knew who we were, and other than some confusion at times due to short term memory loss, was herself. When she passed on, it was time. It was one of the few times in my life I ever genuinely prayed. I'll avoid what I said just so it doesn't hit the sappy note. But eventhough there were some rough spots, I'm glad for every second I got to spend with her. I don't know if she would have wanted to die the way she did. But I do know that if she had committed suicide it would have left us all far more heartbroken, and wondering why she did it. She didn't suffer long, and in her last days, we made her smile more than she had in years just because all her kids were home.
Not saying that everyone's going to have that kind of situation. But I think there's definately something to be said about not jumping the gun. Just because something is terminal, or you have some issues, doesn't mean you can't make the most of what time you've got left. That and sometimes there are other things that can come into play. Often when someone commits suicide, there's finger pointing and arguing over why, and who or what is responcible. it can sometims be harder on those left behind than it seems. But again, it's all the situation.

My experience..

[lionman.livejournal.com]

My grandmother passed away last year. She had Alzheimers as well, and it was becoming advanced. However, we were blessed that she was a calm and quiet patient. She trusted the few who were with her almost all the time, and her husband went with her everywhere.

My cousin stayed with them to help, and I think she didn't share everything that happened, to spare the rest of the family the grief. There were, however, fleeting moments, when you could see in her eye, that she recognized someone or something. That was truely a blessing.

I was there when she passed away. I got to stand at the foot of her bed and sing with my father and the youngest uncle, sang some of her favorite hymns as she passed away. For me, it was one of the moments that will forever be emblazened on my heart. I felt blessed and priveledged to get to do that.

For those of us who have been touched by it, it's a very mixed bag. And never, ever would we wish it on another person.

[rexxwolfe.livejournal.com]

I Have been in nursing homes.... Lets just leave it at that.

There is a tear jerker here because you see how much that person loved his grandmother. Having somone you love go terminal or slowly waste away is a grueling painful experience and marks you for life it tests your character as a human being to its limits it is where we can shine like the sun or be darker then the deepest pit.

[cheetor.livejournal.com]

Well at least I dont need to worry too much.... A Joint a day keeps Alzheimers away

[giza.livejournal.com]

Sadly, that wouldn't go over too well in my industry.

Haven't seen you around in ages, BTW. How you been?

[jlick.livejournal.com]

I lost my mom to Pick's Disease a few years back, which is a different much faster form of dementia than Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is a picnic in the park on a sunny day compared to Pick's Disease.

T.T

[ketrava.livejournal.com]

I can honestly the most heart breaking thing was when my mom took me to visit a VERy old friend she had know since she was a child. When he looked at her thanked her for the flowers and asked such a beautiful lady her name it was like watching the flames die in a fireplace thats the last bit of warmth in an old house that no one remembers. I have never had a point in my life when I wanted to remove my heart from my chest more just so it would hurt less. After we left my mom didn't even talk for hours and when she finally did say something all she could tell me was how much she missed him and then she cried on me for hours. If there is one disease in the world I would cure over any others its this one. Everyone dies its far worse to forget everything you knew and live.

Ketrava

p.s. Its sad I cant even remember his name. I only met him the once and I believe he is gone now and I cant even remeber his name how sad is that.

[flykat.livejournal.com]

i dealt with being solecaretaker of someone with the disease til she finally passed on. I lost a great deal of my life for it, I can tell you right now, there are no good or bad days, just days, and it's hell on both everyday...

[tgeller.livejournal.com]

The poster doesn't go into some of how bad it can get. One effect of the disease is a loss of sense of time, so the affected will be up, singing and shouting and wandering around at 3am.

There's an amazing photojournal book of a family caring for their Alzheimer's-affected elder called "Gramp". Buy it if you see it in a used-book store. (Wow, the cheapest used one on Amazon is $30!)

[giza.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I just put that on my Wishlist.