After my grandmother passed away, he would ask where she was even though he went to the funeral. My aunts and uncles wouldn't tell him over and over again because they didn't want him to get upset. They would tell him she was out visiting a relative and would come back later. I think that after a couple of months he started to really miss her though. Only four months went by when he had a stroke but, sadly, wasn't able to recover from it. He was, at the time, 88 years old so the doctors explained that there wasn't much hope. Looking back now and with what I know about dementia, he might have had vascular dementia. That's "...subtle, progressive decline in memory and cognitive functioning. It occurs when the blood supply carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is interrupted by a blocked or diseased vascular system." It explains more about it in this website.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
I don't remember...
I remember when my grandfather would pass his days in an absent state of mind. He would just sit for the most part of the day, maybe watch tv. We all knew he had problems remembering things, people, and names but he was never actually diagnosed with a type of dementia. He lived in Mexico and his doctor visits weren't about cognitive function but more about physical condition.
After my grandmother passed away, he would ask where she was even though he went to the funeral. My aunts and uncles wouldn't tell him over and over again because they didn't want him to get upset. They would tell him she was out visiting a relative and would come back later. I think that after a couple of months he started to really miss her though. Only four months went by when he had a stroke but, sadly, wasn't able to recover from it. He was, at the time, 88 years old so the doctors explained that there wasn't much hope. Looking back now and with what I know about dementia, he might have had vascular dementia. That's "...subtle, progressive decline in memory and cognitive functioning. It occurs when the blood supply carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is interrupted by a blocked or diseased vascular system." It explains more about it in this website.
We shouldn't just assume that a person has dementia if they are just forgetful. Dementia engulfs more symptoms besides memory loss. This video explains the difference between forgetfulness and dementia or Alzheimer's. Dementia is the term used for the general problem of cognitive failure and memory loss but there's actually many types of it, most common one being Alzheimer's.
After my grandmother passed away, he would ask where she was even though he went to the funeral. My aunts and uncles wouldn't tell him over and over again because they didn't want him to get upset. They would tell him she was out visiting a relative and would come back later. I think that after a couple of months he started to really miss her though. Only four months went by when he had a stroke but, sadly, wasn't able to recover from it. He was, at the time, 88 years old so the doctors explained that there wasn't much hope. Looking back now and with what I know about dementia, he might have had vascular dementia. That's "...subtle, progressive decline in memory and cognitive functioning. It occurs when the blood supply carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is interrupted by a blocked or diseased vascular system." It explains more about it in this website.
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Norma, I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. I bet it was pretty tough for you and your family to have known there was something wrong with his memory. It's unfortunate that he did not have the right medical treatment. I hope one day they find a treatment so other people won't have to suffer from this disease. I would hate to imagine if this were to happen to my family.
ReplyDeleteAfter I read and saw the video I keep thinking of myself because I always catch myself forgetting things. I experience the same thing like the lady in the video at first I remember I was going to get something and once I forget I find myself thinking back and trying to think why I went to that place at first. The way I do it to remember is think the last thing I was doing and right before I leave I think what was I going to do or get then eventually it will come back to me, but sometimes I find it really hard to remember and just leave and do what I was doing and right before I start again I remember what was the thing I was going to do. I do even want to imagine how a person with dementia feels forgetting everything that happen to them and not even remembering the basic things in life.
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