Alzheimer's is a horrible disease!

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's this year. We first noticed that something was wrong during the Christmas holidays. There was confusion about dates and commitments she had made.

I suggested that I go to her next doctor's appointment with her; and she agreed. The visit to the doctor was even more difficult than I imagined because his first question to me was, "Do you think your mother should be living alone?" We spent the next 30 minutes discussing additional testing while Mom seemed content to tune out.

That began the long process of driving back and forth to Charleston every weekend. Calling Mom every morning and night to remind her did not help her manage her medications. Also, she wasn't eating. In fact, from November 2008 until April, 2009, my mother lost 25 lbs.

We very quickly saw that Mom needed more immediate attention so my daughter Imani went to stay with her for 3 weeks to help her manage.
When I came down after the first week, my 23 yr old daughter looked like she hadn't had any sleep at all. (She hadn't because Mom did not sleep, she catnapped.)

We finally got our diagnosis, and moved Mom to Charlotte on April 21, 2009. I'll keep you posted.