Alzheimer`s Sentence

How would you feel if you heard you had Alzheimer`s disease? What if you were old and sick and not completely aware of what was going on? What if you didn`t have someone to speak up for you and your case was simply plopped in the Alzheimer`s can? And what if you didn`t actually have Alzheimer`s?

After a recent incident those questions have plagued me and I have talked to a few people, but there are far more who should know.

My father will be 96 in November. He had been living alone but located very near my brother. Early one morning on a freezing day my brother found him wandering around outside, incoherent, without his shoes and very cold. He was rushed to a hospital where he gradually regained strength, as we expected, for he is an unusually hale and hearty senior. Because of past problems we thought his confusion was due to pain killer medication he had been prescribed. He simply cannot take anything much stronger than aspirin.

While I was with my dad at the hospital a medical specialist came in the room, briefly chatted, and then said my dad had Alzheimer`s disease. I was stunned. (Our mother died of Alzheimer`s so we were not without first-hand knowledge of this awful disease.) Dad is hard of hearing so he was spared the terrible announcement. I strongly objected to the diagnosis so much so that the doctor said he would return and requested that other family members be there. We learned that another doctor first put the Alzheimer`s label on dad, another doctor picked up this diagnosis from the first doctor and then the specialist repeated what the first two doctors had in their files.

After talking with family members the specialist changed his diagnosis. My dad is now doing very well in a home, and from what I`ve seen he is the most mentally alert of the patients I`ve encountered. My dad is very sociable and loves interacting with the staff and is a regular visitor with other patients. He also takes himself down to the exercise room five mornings a week and he "works out" in his room every day.

Aging brings on its own special problems. Things that you may not have thought about doing with a loved one`s private life become very important for that person`s well-being in their later years. Know what your loved one`s medical file contains. Ask questions and for heavens sake, when you have doubts, don`t accept a diagnosis at face value. Be alert and an advocate for your loved ones` medical needs.

Linda Dale