Mom First, Friend Forever

Category: Alzheimer

Dealing with the symptoms and issues of having Alzheimers

  • Changes in View

    Sunset on Lake Nippissing

    My mother is at what is considered the moderate stage of Alzheimer and this stage you can see more and more changes in how a patient views the world are them. Delusions, hallucinations, confusion and disorientation are some of the key signs of this stage. Like this evening we were watching Mythbusters and when it was over she wanted to know what myth we were busting next. Had to explain we do not shot or blow things up here. LOL Quite often she will mix up what she sees on TV with real life, but luckily most of the time with gentle words i can bring her back to reality. It is so hard to watch the confusion and difficulty she has with understanding what is going on around her.

    Here is a good document that explains what you would see when you or your loved one gets to this stage – Progression – Middle Stage – Alzheimer – I highly recommend reading it if you have anyone around you in or heading to this stage.

    When I was looking at my photos for this post, I looked at the ones below and realized they were such a great visual to explain how things are for mom. Things are familiar – you can trees, flowers etc. but everything is distorted or upside down. I love using my sphere for creative photos which can also help understand what others are seeing.

    My favourite shot of these is the one stuck in the tree and this was an idea of Mom’s as we were walking along a local trail before her Alzhiemers got as bad as now. Did she have an idea of what she would face one day or was she just wonderfully creative. I believe the second as this one not the first or last time she suggested a certain angle or item to shot – she has definitely inspired me to be creative and look at things differently when out with my camera. These photos will always be a memory of her even when she is not in the photo.

  • Creating Lasting Memories with Loved Ones

    I want to start this with a bit of a serious thought about something I have realized since starting this blog. I know that I wanted to create memories with Mom and for the most part I felt I was doing this for me. It is hard to see these memories are not staying with Mom. So I started this blog so I would have something to go back to when Mom no longer can accompany me and as I did, I realized that this is for more then just me, this is for Mom. She may not remember what she did the day before or sometimes even an hour before but not one can deny when looking at this pictures of her that in the moment she was having a grand time.

    So for anyone out there that might think, what is the point of doing things with those who have Alzheimer they won’t remember them. Look at the smiles on Mom’s face and the laughter in her eyes. She is truly living in the moment and you can too with your loved ones. So please get out, share some time with those you love, you will create memories for yourself and joy for your loved one in that moment What could be more important.

    Some of the memories we created when we went to Owen Sound started half way there in a small village called Williamsford – the Williamsford Mill is a awesome place to search for used books and it has a great little cafe there were we shared an amazing BLT. If you go makes sure you grab a couple of Butter tarts – so gooey good.

    We were also lucky that day that a Antique car group was there and they had some really cool cars in the lot.

    We did a lot of driving during this trip – we drove along Georgian Bay and drove over to Lake Huron and we had amazing weather and really got to see a really lovely area of Ontario.

    The best drive we took was along the shoreline between Owen Sound and Wairton. Was so beautiful and so much to see it took us quite a bit more time then the 48mins they said it would.

    So get out there and do some traveling of your own with those you love and if you come across a really good route, please share with me so i can take Mom someplace new.