When I was in law school, I had a
professor who told about his senile father.
The man often wandered away from home and when my professor found him,
the father refused to return home with him.
A police officer had to tell the father to go home with this 'nice young
man' for him to cooperate.
The professor explained that one in four people would
develop dementia so chances were 50/50 that we would have a parent with
Alzheimer's disease or senile dementia.
(I don't know if his statistics were correct.) I paid little attention to his stories, but
within a year, I realized Mom was showing signs of dementia, too.
I was busy finishing law school and only vaguely aware of
the changes in Mom's behavior. At first
little things happened that only someone close to her would realize were
"off." The odd conduct
occurred more and more frequently.
When I graduated, hiring freezes made it impossible
to seek employment with the federal government as I had planned. I began caring for Mom while looking for
work. Her needs increased and I cared
for her until her death in 1997; I cared for Dad until his passing in 2001.
Although I worked some part time and temporary jobs, my
career was essentially on hold from my graduation in 1980 until 2001. I certainly do not recommend that for anyone!
After caregiving for 23 years, I have
definite ideas on what to do – and what not to do. More resources are available to the caregiver
and the elderly than ever before. In
subsequent posts, I will share some of the resources I found most valuable.
