The following was written by Katey. She is Dana's sixteen year old daughter. She is sharing her perspective as a young grandchild who has had to learn a lot about the effects of Alzheimer's at an early age.
My grandpa
was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when I was 11. For two years, my mom didn't tell
me. Before my thirteenth birthday, grandpa started to show signs that I
recognized. He would lose his train of thought in seconds. I never really felt
any differently towards my grandpa. When my mom told me about the situation,
all I wanted was to make sure I got the best of what time I had left with him. I understood, even at 13, that eventually my grandpa would not remember me, or my family.
My
eighth grade year, he began to regress A LOT. At the beginning of my school
year, he was pretty much fully functional. In May though, he was starting to
have trouble holding conversations. Over the summer, he started to go into dark
phases. He seemed like a different person. It was scary to me and my family
because he was capable of hurting us at times. The scary phases started to
become more frequent and by September, when I was a freshman, it was so common
that sometimes we worried about his safety and my grandma's safety. We decided
to listen to what the doctors said and take him to an Alzheimer's treatment
home. After that, I didn't go to see him as often because it was really hard.
In June of 2014, after he had been placed somewhere new, I went to visit. He didn't make eye
contact anymore, and he didn't respond to what we said. It was really obvious that
he didn't know who I was. That was the most difficult moment of my grandpa
being sick. He wasn't really my grandpa anymore..it was really hard for me. I
haven't been to see him since then. I know it wouldn't benefit him or me.
Regardless of his ability to remember me, I definitely still love my grandpa.
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