We will actually celebrate our anniversary on a happier day...
I call it the family curse...
My father was diagnosed with it some years before he died but he actually died of congestive heart failure before the Alzheimer's went into the final stages. My mother had been his primary caretaker but my parents and my wife and I all lived on the same farm about 400' apart.
During those years my father's 3 living sisters all developed it one by one. I spent a great deal of time dealing with the ever changing problems and as the only able family member living locally I became the family problem handler.
My maternal grandfather was diagnosed with it. As a kid he and I used to hunt together and we were pretty close. By the time he passed he didn't know me at all. Cancer took him before the Alzheimer's did but it was a close race.
Then my mother developed it and she rode the train all of the way to the end. At the end stage she just shut down. It was a long terrible experience. She became unbelievably hard to deal with and I had really scary problems with her wandering. My wife and I both came out of that one with strong symptoms of PTSD.
In doing genealogy research I discovered that my maternal grandfather's grandmother had spent the end of her life confined to a mental institution. Of course they had no idea what Alzheimer's or other dementia was in those days, they just called it "senility".
I later found that my paternal great grandmother's death certificate lists her cause of death as "senility"...
As I said "family curse".
Living as far away as she did my sister was really only around my mother a couple of times a year but after one trip she became concerned enough to go home and had herself tested and had an MRI. They said she showed no signs of it but when it hit it hit hard. When she passed last week she had not spoken at all for several months.
My odds are not looking real good...
My GP has applied the standard test a couple of times and so far so good. I try to stay busy and physically active and I keep always trying new things to challenge myself.I guess I don't really have a point here, I just had to unload... Pesky week.
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