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Unusual encounter....(dog&sheep)
#11
That's very difficult Catherine. I think people are very scared of Alzheimer's and don't want to face the early stages head-on so they can perhaps make their lives a bit easier, make allowances, make sure their friends & family know, and arrange good care for the future.

If they see celebrities who face these things, it helps I think. Terry Pratchett, the writer, may have given some help to many people, when he was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's.and publicised himself and did interviews.

Oddly enough I wonder if many people would be more willing to accept help from a service dog than a human!? But of course that would be hard with someone with that form of dementia as they may become unable to care for the dog.
However I noticed that my mother (who had dementia very badly) seemed to become far more lucid when Misty was around. I certainly do think that service dogs, or well trained dogs in general, are a great idea as visitors to hospices, care homes and some hospitals. Even some animal lovers with bad Alzheimer's can relate to a dog being around and it makes their day.

With my mother, the early stages were hard to catch. She could break any code! She had such a good brain. She would solve puzzles and codes that made me dizzy to even look at -in minutes. Then one day after my aunt had visited, my mother suddenly said, "Who is that woman?" I thought she was joking.
When I told her "Don't be silly! That's your sister!", she denied having a sister. I still thought she was joking, as she was doing the Times crossword at that moment. (and did that in about 10 minutes!)
So it seemed to happen so suddenly with her. We wondered if she'd had a mild stroke, but no. And later, dementia was diagnosed.

It would have been useful to have your abilities Catherine, at that time.
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#12
That's right. you said your mother developed dementia.
There probably were earlier symptoms, but because your mother had such an active and alert mind they were not noticeable. The more active the mind is, the more it can compensate.

I did not know that Terry Pratchett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. One of our North American folk/country singers has just withdrawn from public life because of Alzheimer's.
I hope the publicity helps, but people resist the idea of even considering dementia/Alzheimer's. There are medical things that can be done to help.

Not recognizing the signs is the most common response. I work with so many people who have some level of problem so I have learned to assess things. Dementias present themselves in so many different ways. I hope one day we find that dogs can warn us of brain changes. That would really help.

Since each person is different, I let my intuition tell me if there is a problem. There is usually some small disconnect, like your mother not recognizing her sister, while doing a crossword puzzle. Or there is a clearness and memory, but only about past events(usually of a certain time in the past). Or the person is current and intelligent in their conversation and can remember the past, but they cannot learn simple new tasks, like a new coffee maker.

It would be useful if we could identify early, categorize what areas are being effected and plan the future accordingly. I think a service dog could at least keep a person from harm. The dog could be trained to get help in an emergency.
Dogs could probably help younger brain damaged adults as well. Of course the person would need to be someone who could trust a dog. You and I could do it. If my sight was going I would want a dog before I was legally blind. That would give me time to adjust.

The best thing to do as we age is simplify things anyhow. Getting rid of junk and keeping meaningful things is a good idea no matter what, but if the brain was in trouble it would only need to deal with things that could trigger strong memories. That would help.

Also it would help to label things so you can remember how to use them and why. At some point the brain has failed too far, but giving it help can delay the decline.
Your mother's willingness to keep her mind active with crosswords etc. probably gave her a lot more good time.
It is very hard to lose someone through Dementia. I lost someone a couple of years back, but in truth the person was gone way before the actual end. I know too much so I just can't do denial.
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Catherine

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#13
Yes, dementia and Alzheimer's is very sad. Relatives, friends and loved ones go through a lot of grieving even while the person is alive, and still not too bad -able to eat, enjoy things etc. Because they appear to have 'lost' that person.

But in my mother's case it was not all sad. Through it all, and through her cognitive decline, I could still see/intuit that her Soul (the 'place her heart was at') was still very much intact. She was still there in some essential way.
There were some hilarious moments too. My aunt visited often and after one of her visits my mother said, "I have worked out who those people are."
I asked her "Which people?"
"The fat woman..." (uh-oh....my aunt, and she's not really that fat!) "...And that other woman with the lovely dog."
"The woman with the dog is me." I replied, "And the dog is Misty."
"No," she said, "You're HERE. I don't mean YOU, I mean the people who visited just now."
"O...kaaay..."
"They spend all day going round peoples' houses eating biscuits and drinking coffee," She answered, "And then they go home for dinner. That's why that other woman is so fat. They just look round peoples' houses all day and eat any food offered to them!"

It was very funny sometimes. Even when I burst out laughing, my mother would have a geat big grin on her face and laugh until she had to wipe her eyes, and I would hug her and we'd laugh together until we nearly fell over. She hadn't a clue what we were laughing at but we had a great time over similar incidents.
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#14
You had the right attitude for dealing with your mother's condition. Instead of grieving for every little bit lost, you enjoyed what was left.

You are quite right, the person's soul is still there as beautiful as it ever was. I usually don't meet people until they are showing signs, sometimes strongly, of dementia. I can still see who the person is. There is some essential part that is still there. People who were fun somehow stay fun. Intelligence can over come serious levels of dementia.

I like you mother's theory about people who go around and eat biscuits all day. It is funny, but there is some truth to it.

One of my Alzheimer's ladies was being assessed. They asked her many questions. Some she knew some she did not. When asked what city she was in she didn't know. The woman questioning her said "You don't know what city you are in?" and she replied, "What do I need to know that for, I am already here". She was a delightful person in spite of the Alzheimer's and she kept her attitude. I always loved her attitude.Heart
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Catherine

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#15
Oh, what a delightful thread - both the beginning of it, about the dog and the lamb and then the discussion about Alzheimer's! Five stars again!

I have some thoughts about the dog and the lamb, Tobi, which I shall send to you personally and not publicly on the forum.
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#16
This has proved to be an interesting thread.
I think we are exploring the levels of communication that exist.

Dogs certainly communicate on levels we can't touch. That is why they are so helpful to people who are in any way impaired.

Dogs are great with cognitively impaired people. They are able to understand what the person is still trying to communicate. Humans get to caught up in details. If you use one wrong word people reject the whole sentence. If I know what the person is saying you can carry on without fussing about the wrong word. If you are not sure, listening a little longer will tell you what the person means.

I found it might take most of the morning, but eventually an Alzheimer's person will tell you what they want you to know. It just takes longer and we are used to instant communication.
Sometimes the cognitively impaired are capable of great truths because they have lost some of their social inhibitions. They can't lie anymore. That is a little like dogs who are always authentic. No wonder dogs communicate with people whose minds are impaired. They might actually prefer us that way. Who knows. Dogs are pretty tolerant of our weaknesses.
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Catherine

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#17
(02-17-2015, 04:30 AM)Catherine Wrote: Sometimes the cognitively impaired are capable of great truths because they have lost some of their social inhibitions. They can't lie anymore. That is a little like dogs who are always authentic. No wonder dogs communicate with people whose minds are impaired. They might actually prefer us that way. Who knows. Dogs are pretty tolerant of our weaknesses.

Absolutely. Sometimes my mother would come out with things that were bare truths, and I could see that. And sometimes she would speak from her very Heart.
There seemed almost to be someting a bit 'Zen' about her situation in some ways.
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#18
Quote:Absolutely. Sometimes my mother would come out with things that were bare truths, and I could see that. And sometimes she would speak from her very Heart.
There seemed almost to be someting a bit 'Zen' about her situation in some ways.

I would imagine her words becoming disconnected from the details around her and therefore having an objective meaning that would transcend everyday conversation.

There is a certain truth in not needing to know where you are since you are already there. It is more important that you be where you are than know where you are. Certainly my client was happy that way and those that worried about her were less happy.
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Catherine

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