It's the Alzheimer's, stupid! #2

Let's keep tweaking this "It's the Alzheimer's, stupid!"

What else angers caregivers?

How about asking the caregiver or family member all about the disease when that person is right there. You know, questions like, "So, how long has he got?" or "You are going to be put her in a nursing home, aren't you?"

People with Alzheimer's aren't stupid. Now, people who ask those terribly insensitive questions, that's another thing …

Hmm, it's kind of hard to explain Alzheimer's and how it's a horrific, fatal disease while the person with it is right there. Imagine hearing every day that you have a fatal disease and that your brain is all screwed up and so on and so on. And if you have memory loss, it's like hearing the diagnosis for the first time every time.

Imagine the physical and emotional toll that takes. I know one family that stopped talking about the loved one's cancer in front of him because his Alzheimer's made it devastating to hear every time.

If you want to learn first-hand more about Alzheimer's, then ask the caregiver or family member off to the side and then be willing to hear the answer. (Just don't point at the person with the disease because they notice those sort of things and it makes them uncomfortable.)

I can guarantee that everybody has a different answer because Alzheimer's doesn't follow rules of logic or consistency … or mercy.

It's that damn Alzheimer's, stupid!