In an earlier entry I showcased a video which told a fictional story about a young Lisa and her mother with Alzheimer’s. In that entry I commented on Lisa’s youth. But if you watched that video, you surely noticed the mother’s age as well. She appeared in her forties or fifties. A little inaccuracy in the story, you think, right? Nobody in their fifties could get Alzheimer’s, could they? That is just a disease of old people–those in their sixties, seventies, and eighties.
Right?
Unfortunately, no. While the vast majority of Alzheimer’s victims are in their sixties, seventies, and eighties, not all of them are. And for those who suffer from early onset Alzheimer’s it can be particularly devastating for them, and their families. Someone who should have many more years of productive life are incapacitated and left depending on their spouse, or young adult children. It is hard on loved ones, not only to lose someone so early to Alzheimer’s, but because such Alzheimer’s victims can still be physically healthy–a trait which can making caring for them especially difficult. An eighty-year-old man has a lot less energy to cause trouble than a fifty-five year old man. As a result it, can be a particularly difficult nightmare to take care of someone who is relatively young and losing their mind to Alzheimer’s.
The New York Times has a very old article about just such a circumstance. It is called Another Name for Madness and was written in 1983, when everyone knew much less about Alzheimer’s. The author writes about her mother who, at 54, is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
The article begins:
In the autumn of 1979, my mother killed the cats. We had seven; one morning, she grabbed four, took them to the vet and had them put to sleep. She said she didn’t want to feed them anymore. It occurred to me that she might be going mad.
A few months later, she disappeared. When she returned, after four days, she had no idea where she had been. By now, she, too, knew that something was wrong. Over the next two years, she was subjected to periodic memory tests and physical examinations by a battery of general practitioners, gynecologists, neurologists and other physicians. Day by day, she became more disoriented. She would seem surprised at her surroundings, as if she had just appeared there. She stopped cooking, and had difficulty remembering the simplest things.
Finally, in September 1981, the neurologist who by then was in charge of the case, told my sister, Margaret, what he had suspected for some time: My mother had Alzheimer’s disease.
I strongly suggest you read the article, particularly if you are a caregiver for an Alzheimer’s patient, and especially if you are caring for someone who has early onset Alzheimer’s. The article may not teach you anything new, but it will let you know someone has gone through what you are facing. And sometimes knowing that we are not alone is what we need most.
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