Hi! My name is Teri. I am a Multi-Generational Alzheimer's Survivor and Co-Caregiver of a parent with Alzheimer's Disease. This week, I will share solutions for getting a Loved One Diagnosed and follow up with you about why you might not want to get a Loved One diagnosed.
For many of us, there comes a day when we notice something is off with a friend or family member. We may notice that a friend or family member is showing symptoms of cognitive decline. That might be as simple as this family member repeating a story twice when you are having lunch. It might be something as significant as this friend or family member getting lost on the way to meet you for lunch.
If your friend or family member repeats a story twice, you may be tempted to keep it to yourself and not say anything to anyone else. However, I am going to ask you not to do that. If you notice that a friend or family member shows any memory loss, you need to say something. Hopefully, this is someone you know well enough to reach out to someone in this person's immediate family. Someone like a spouse, sibling, or adult child.
I know that sounds extreme! Most of us want to keep our noses out of other people's business. We do not want to create family drama or hurt our family members or friends.
However, having a private conversation with your friend or loved one's immediate family member could be one of the most loving expressions you can offer. As the monotony of daily life moves on from day to day, we often do not see the big picture. We must provide multiple nutritious meals, do laundry, clean the house, walk the dog, buy another last-minute graduation gift, go to work, shop for the family, take the cat to the vet, and the list goes on and on every day, every week, every month, every year. It is common for us not to notice changes in the people we are closest to.
Did he cut his hair again?
Did she have to replace another set of lost keys?
Did he forget to pick her up at school?
Did she tell me the same story about the new girls at work again?
Who knows? Who cares? Just get it done and move on to the next item on the To Do List!
As a friend or family member not involved in the day-to-day drama, you might notice the early stages of memory loss. The easy thing to do is keep it to yourself without getting involved. That will do nothing more than prevent your friend or loved one from getting the treatment they need.
Alzheimer's Disease begins to take its toll on us 10 - 20 years before we show any signs or symptoms. For your loved one to show symptoms, they have been experiencing a cognitive decline for at least 10 years. This is the perfect time to begin to explore treatment options.
It may not have been appropriate to say anything in the past. There were not any viable treatment solutions for people experiencing memory loss. If the family had not noticed yet, why bring it up? They were going to have to deal with it soon enough anyway.
But now, there are treatment solutions for every stage of Alzheimer's Disease. There are even solutions to help prevent memory loss. So, the sooner you allow yourself to step in and talk to a family member, the better. I can promise that it will take some time before they accept it and act. However, you might be the 2nd or 3rd friend or family member to say something. If so, you are only confirming what is already suspected. Your kindness may be just the gentle push needed for them to take action by making the phone call and beginning the process of diagnosing memory loss.
The first person to address a potential memory loss problem will be met with denial. No one will believe that there is a problem. That is OK because when the family member goes home, they are going to pay more attention to the potential memory loss of their loved one. Suddenly, they notice that their loved one is struggling to find the right word, they can never find their keys, and they cannot complete a trip to the grocery store without forgetting multiple items. Give them time to think about this and the impact that a potential memory loss diagnosis will make on the family. Give them time to talk to others in the family to see if they noticed the same thing.
Each person brought into this informal evaluation will need weeks, if not months, to accept the potential problem. Then, additional time will be needed to monitor the person experiencing memory loss. It would be easy to see this process of acceptance take six months.
A loving friend or family member will give the family 4-6 months before bringing it up again. After 4-6 months, I would encourage you to bring it up again. But only to the person you talked to initially (you don't want to be seen as someone playing one family member off the other). This time, take a book or information detailing positive outcomes for the person experiencing memory loss. I encourage you to take Dr. Dale Bresden's Book, The End of Alzheimer's: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline. After this, you have done all that you can. (https://amzn.to/4b66N3A)
Most families do not know or think that there is anything you can do to treat Alzheimer's Disease. Nothing you are going to say or do will change their choice to let the disease progress without treatment. It is my opinion that we must respect the choices of the person experiencing memory loss and their family.
Why would a family not encourage treatment? Family dynamics and relationships are complicated. There are an unlimited number of reasons why. It might be insufficient information, it might be a religious belief, or it might be a lack of funds. It might also be a history of abuse, and the individuals who were abused cannot reengage with the family member experiencing memory loss. Again, we must respect the choices of the person experiencing memory loss and their family.
However, there will be families and people who are experiencing memory loss who will welcome your intervention. As time goes by, we welcome more and more survivors. As more Alzheimer's Survivors are willing to stand up and speak out, more people will be encouraged to seek treatment and fight their way past memory loss.
Once your friend or family member experiencing memory loss tells you they are interested in seeking help, you have options and multiple directions you can take.
When my family experienced memory loss in a loved one, my loved one explored medical intervention. She was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment by a traditional Neurologist. This Neurologist was very scientific in communicating my loved one's diagnosis. When my loved one asked what happens after Mild Cognitive Impairment, the Neurologist said, "Well, Alzheimer's, of course". My Loved One was devastated beyond belief! And soon, she was mad as hell!
The Neurologist thought she was communicating the obvious. What she did was bring out my Loved Ones Inner Fighter. That fighter began to research options and found Kerwin Medical Center. She jumped feet first into a double-blind research program for a controversial medication. Her only hope was that when her children experienced memory loss and developed Alzheimer's Disease, there would be a viable treatment solution to help them survive.
Lecanemab (Leqembi) was approved by the FDA in 2023. That medication has removed the amyloid plaque from her brain. After 4+ years of treatment, she still receives a dose every single week.
Other families might be more comfortable with a less traditional solution. Dr. Dale Bredesen's Pre-Code and Re-Code solutions show results that are even more impressive than those of the medications approved by the FDA. Many more treatment solutions and research programs are available to treat Alzheimer's today.
A new test will be available this month. It is a blood test that we will discuss more soon. It is a game-changer!
That said, why would a person not want to be diagnosed?
There is always the fear that someone will find out that you have Alzheimer's Disease. The HIPPA laws should protect a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. However, I don't trust those laws much myself.
An Alzheimer's Disease diagnosis would affect:
- Your job and possibly your ability to continue to work
- Insurance Rates
- Professional Licenses & Certifications
- Driver's License
- Interpersonal Relationships
If you want information on treatment solutions or research programs, you can email me. I have access to the contact information for all Alzheimer' s-related research programs in the US, as well as for all Alzheimer's Specialists and alternative medicine solutions.
Teri
teri@protonmail.com