Caregivers and Stress

[GeorgiaMa'am]

My mom called me for a recipe for lemonade today.

Alzheimer's runs in our family, and my mom and my sister and I are constantly on the lookout for signs that it could be rearing its ugly head in any of us. My mom does forget things; she's easily distracted. It's probably just old age, but I know it bothers her whenever she misplaces something, or she can't wrap her head around a project.

In today's case, she said she was looking in her cookbooks for a recipe for lemonade. I'm not surprised she couldn't find one, but I didn't say so. Then she asked how I make my lemonade. (Here we come to the real point of the call.) I told her in the simplest way I could imagine, without having to measure anything. Then she said, "Oh, of course, that's the way I make mine too."

It's distressing, these little signs of losing one's mind slowly. It's most distressing because I know it's distressing to her. I think the days of her being able to live mostly on her own, with frequent visits from me and my sister are numbered. I don't know how soon it will be, but I'm pretty sure she will need full-time care soon.