With Alzheimer’s, the Caregiver Is a Patient, Too March 8, 2008

I located this article which discusses the stress and depression that Alzheimer’s Caregivers can face.

Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia do not affect just the patient. These diseases gradually rob patients of memory and other intellectual abilities, leaving them unable to perform routine tasks. As the disease continues to destroy brain cells, patients increasingly depend on family members or others to carry out simple tasks like shopping and getting dressed. Ultimately, most patients will need complete care, adding to the caregiver’s burden.Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting up to 4 million Americans – and untold millions of family members and others who care for them. Physicians now recognize that Alzheimer’s caregivers themselves often require care and attention, says Diana R. Kerwin, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology.

“What we’re seeing is that Alzheimer’s is not a typical disease model,” she says, “precisely because the health and well-being of the caretaker is affected as well as the patient. I know when I assume the care of an Alzheimer’s patient, I am also caring for the caregiver.”

Caregivers who accompany patients to the Froedtert Senior Health Program’s Geriatric Evaluation Clinic, where Dr. Kerwin practices, are screened for “caregiver stress” and see a gerontologic nurse and social worker who will answer their questions, provide information and help create a plan for care of the patient. Caregivers are given a kit with information about support groups and community services, including adult day care, home care agencies, assisted living, skilled nursing facilities and respite care.

Read more of the article

Loving, living with Alzheimer’s This Day and Age December 26, 2007

What if your spouse lived in an Alzheimer’s care facility and found a new love there? Would you feel rage and anger – even though you understood he or she no longer knew you or knew where they were?

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor faced this ordeal publicly last fall. She could have been irate and jealous that her husband of 54 years was spending his days romantically involved with a woman.

Instead, surprisingly, O’Connor was pleased. After 17 years of seeing her husband spiral downhill, she understood that because of his progressive Alzheimer’s disease, which affects memory and behavior, his mind was in another world and he no longer knew who she was.

O’Connor’s public admittance that she was content to see her husband peaceful and happy in his final years helps raise understanding of this dreadful disease.

But arriving at that point of acceptance doesn’t happen overnight, said Ellen Quarry, a Jupiter woman whose husband lived his last years in an Alzheimer’s care facility.

“Intellectually I understood he no longer knew who I was or where he was, but I was still hurt seeing him hold hands with another woman,” she said.

“I remember crying on our anniversary because I so wanted him to say he loved me, but all he did was to sit there and play with his lasagna. He didn’t even recognize me.”

To reach the acceptance O’Connor seems to feel, Quarry, a marriage and family therapist, said she struggled through a long and difficult grieving process.

Read More of the Article