Alzheimer’s Caregiving: Now That You Know
If you are reading this information, I assume the examinations have proven your family member has actually been stricken with some form of Dementia.
Receiving a negative medical report is a traumatic experience for both the patient and the family. However, knowing the disease that has been assigned is not curable is even more devastating. Dementia has been labeled as the long good-bye. As the condition progresses, loved ones often watch the person they have known forever slowly disappear while a total stranger emerges.
When your loved one has been diagnosed with this dreaded disease, it is common for relatives to feel shocked, sad, confused, and afraid. The mission before you appear impossible to accept and the mental image of what your kin may endure is depressing. In addition, the thought of the unlimited assistance that will be required can be confusing, frightening, and overwhelming.
After the initial shock, it’s important for you to immediately begin to formulate a plan of care.
During the beginning of my experience with my mother I was a single parent, only child, my son was too young to be involved in providing care, and my father was deceased.
If you have immediate family, they may be your first source of support. Call a family meeting and share the medical finding with your siblings…
