Thoughts on the Diagnosis--Cameron's story

Today's post is by another grandchild.  Cameron is Dana's second child.  He is thirteen, and in seventh grade.  He recently chose to write an informative paper for school about Alzheimer's Disease. Cameron did an excellent job with his research for the paper, but sadly, he has the life experience, as well.  This was his assignment, left uncorrected.  We wanted to post it exactly as he wrote it.

My grandpa has Alzheimer's. Does someone in your family have it? It's a really scary and dangerous disease. Three important things about Alzheimer's are what it is, how it works, and what it feels like to have family with it. After this you will be fully informed.

            As said above, you might wonder what Alzheimer's Disease is. It's a "progressive degenerative disease that attacks the brain's nerve cells." This results in memory loss and loss in language skills. This disease can change your behavior and in general, the way you act. Your brain hardly works, as if it's numb.

            How Alzheimer's works isn't simple at all, there are seven stages to it. First the person looks and acts fine. Second the person notices his/her slow memory problems, third all the other people notice this person's changes. A doctor will interview and diagnose the person with Alzheimer's. The victim will need help with day to day activities. Several things happen in stage 6, memory worsens, personality changes, person needs help with small things like eating. Stage seven the person loses almost all of their abilities, they can hardly carry on a conversation. These are the seven biggest steps.

            After all these big steps and facts here's how this feels for my family. This disease is sad, my grandpa told my mom she wasn't his daughter. The Alzheimer's Disease hurts the victim's family just as much as it does them. Really all you can do with Alzheimer's is accept it, deal with it, and remember the good times you had with the person who has it.

            So here's three solid paragraphs on Alzheimer's Disease. How it works, what it is, and how it feels to have a family member with it. It's hard for the family members, not just the victim. But, you have to accept it, sure to get your tears out. But Alzheimer's has no cure.