September is Alzheimer awareness month
Severe cases cause anxiety and aggressiveness or wandering away from home. Eventually, they would need total care at an AD care facility.
AD usually start after the age of 60 and as you get older, the risk increases.
10 warning signs, every individual may experience one or more of these signs to a different degree.
* Memory loss that disrupts daily life
* Challenges in planning or solving problems
* Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, work or leisure
* Confusion with time or place
* Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
* Problems with words in speaking or writing
* Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
* Decreased or poor judgment
* Withdrawal from work or social activities
* Changes in mood and personality.
HERAUT spoke to a resident at Suikerbosoord retirement village who preferred to remain anonymous. He (80) is caring for his wife (83) who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s three years ago.
He shared his daily struggle of being a caregiver to his wife. When she started forgetting small things like where the bathroom is or made strange comments non related to the conversation he knew something was wrong. She became anxious and impatient and after a visit to the doctor, she was admitted to a clinic for a week.
Through various tests conducted at the clinic, she was diagnosed with AD. “My wife was very intelligent and worked at a top South African firm as secretary to one of SA’s wealthiest men.
To see her deteriorate saddens my heart. Simple tasks like going to the grocery store or fetching medicine from the chemist is a tediest task which I need to do early in the morning before she wakes up around 09:30.
I write big notices of my whereabouts and place it at all the spots she might sit: the lounge, kitchen, veranda, next to her medicine, just in case she wakes up and I am not there. I adapt to what is, as every day is different. My first wife died of MS and now my second wife has AD. I’ve been in lockdown for over 20 years,” he said.
During our interview, his wife, woke up after a mid-morning nap. She was confused and anxious. She did not know where to sit. She mentioned that she is hungry but did not know where the kitchen is. She became impatient and after receiving a sandwich calmed down slightly.
Her children came to visit her a week prior to the interview and she did not recognise them. It’s heart breaking for her children who knew their mother as a hard working, intelligent woman.
“I can’t reason with her. I have to give her clear instructions and have to repeat the instructions numerous times as she forgets. She gets so angry at times that she slaps me. I was used to talk things through with my wife before we make any decisions.
Now I have to make all the decisions by myself. She still recognise me for now. Although I am her caregiver, she sees me as the enemy at times as I have to be harsh with her sometimes. She is not capable of doing anything physically. I have to bath her, dry her hair, dress her. AD destroys one’s dignity” he said.
“I love my wife and thankfully I am still healthy and capable of taking care of her for now,” he concluded.
