Can Alzheimer's Caregiving Get Easier?

The effort it takes to foster contentedness in my mother, who lives in the late middle stages of Alzheimer ’s Disease – that seems easier to me. Easier than last month. Easier than last year. What’s changed?By Pamela R. KelleyAlzheimer's Reading RoomWhat do you mean, easier?Does it get easier to care for someone living with Alzheimer's disease?The work, the labor, the volume of chores and tasks that fill the minutes from before first light until long after sunset –this part doesn ’t diminish, it grows.Care of Dementia PatientsBut,the effort it takes to foster contentedness in my mother, who lives in the late middle stages of Alzheimer ’s Disease – that seems easier to me. Easier than last month. Easier than last year.What ’s changed? Just me.Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading RoomEmail:Care giving remains the most difficult occupation I ’ve undertaken in a peripatetic life.Reporter. Lobbyist. Lawyer. Professor. This work, caregiving, is hard work in a way that none of that ever was. Its rewards aren ’t recognizable to most; they aren’t easily accessible. This work has set me at odds with those who love me,who see a tinge of madness in the fervor with which I ’ve thrown myself into caring for my mother through her terminal disease.Audrey has been living in my home in Alaska for a year. She came here after spending eight months in my brother ’s home. Before that, my widowed mother lived alone in a lovely retirement condo. She has traveled great dista...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - Category: Neurology Tags: advocate alzheimer's care Alzheimers Dementia care of dementia patients health help with dementia care how to podcast Source Type: blogs