Alzheimer's - Up Close and Personal

I had my first encounter today with someone afflicted with Alzheimer's. The father of one my neighbor's was diagnosed about six months ago. A couple of weeks ago they brought him from another state to live with them because he can no longer be left alone. The neighbor's are trying to find a home to put their dad in because they both work and dad is becoming more and more disoriented. He keeps escaping from the house and wandering off and getting lost and very confused.

Today, they were both at work, and the dad walked outside for some reason and the door to the house locked behind him and he couldn't get back in. He had on no coat and was in a short sleeved shirt. It is very cold today and I don't know how long the man was outside, but by the time he pounded on my front door he was wet and shivering and turning blue. He didn't know where he was or how he had gotten where he was. He thought he was in a totally different state. Luckily, the neighbor's had told us about the dad and asked us to keep an eye out in case we ever saw him wandering the streets. So we knew who he was and called them and they left work to get him and take him back home.

The neighbor's work about an hour's drive from here so we had dad nice and warm by the time they arrived at my house. But my eyes were opened to a whole new world during the time spent with my unexpected visitor.

The conversations I had with the elderly man were quite sad. Had I not known who he was I probably would have had to call the police because he had no clue where he was or where he lived or anything identifying on him. He just kept asked me the same questions over and over and was very agitated and frustrated that he couldn't figure out where he was and how he had gotten here.

I spent almost two hours with him and got a small insight into how sad and frustrating it must be for those who are caregivers for Alzheimer's patients. And also a small windown of insight into the devastation of the disease on the person afflicted with it.

Certainly I've heard of the disease, seen TV shows about it, and heard others talking of it. But I had never personally encountered anyone with Alzheimer's so this was a very scary eye opening experience for me. I'm just glad I was at home to help him.

I could speculate for hours on how long we was outside in the elements with no coat and short sleeves in the freezing temps ... or why the neighbor's don't have a way to keep him from getting outside ... but for now I'm just relieved that everyone is safe and sound once again.

God bless those who are living with this disease and those who are caregivers and family members having to watch the devastation.