re: I pray I live to see the day that Alzheimer’s is eradicated from this Earth.

Both of my grandmothers went through this. The one I wasn't close to had it the worst. Even then, it was very sad and emotionally moved me. My closest grandmother, my mom's mom, didn't have it as bad, but my mother loved her so much, I could hear the pain in her voice when we spoke on the phone about it. She did almost make it to 100 which we are thankful for.

A gump I agree with other than Genro.

I feel you, brother.
Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.

ETA: Mrs. 19's grandmother in mid-late stages now, just placed in SNF. It's like deja-vu in Hell all over again for me...this woman who prepared Thanksgiving dinner for 30-60 ppl every year for the last 13 years.

They will.
Its always something though.
We all gotta go sometime.

I watched one of my grandmothers go downhill from it over a period of 12 years. She went from playing basketball daily at 75 to being in a wheelchair in a couple of years. She usually only spoke french. She was always living in her childhood...it didn't seem like she was aware of her physical condition. She kind of stayed hunched over but if you threw a ball past her she would reach her hand out and catch it.

My other grandmother died at 96. She was still sharp as a tack, very good memory and very aware of everything around her. She lived with poor health for years and knew that her quality of life was bad.

I don't know which one was worse watching.

My grandma is suffering from it now. Still has her long term memory but her short term is completely gone. Very hard to see a loved one lose their mind.

quote:

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I don’t know anything about the disease. How do you actually die from it?

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I don't believe that, technically, my grandmother "died" directly from the Alzheimers. She had a stroke back in September, but never recovered from it because the Alzheimer's made her unable to do any rehab.

Normally, from my limited understanding, death results from other issues that are brought on by Alzheimer's. A lot of people die from pneumonia, blood clots (such as my grandmother, I assume), injuries sustained in falls, etc. I would guess that Alzheimer's makes it more difficult for the brain to deal with those things, since Alzheimer's itself is destroying crucial parts of your brain.