Who Me? Getting Alzheimer’s? You’ve Got to Be Kidding

By Marie Marley Alzheimer's Reading Room I thought I was getting Alzheimer’s. I really did. And how ironic would that be? I blog on the Huffington Post and here on the Alzheimer’s Reading Room about my experiences as an Alzheimer’s caregiver to my Romanian life partner, Edward Theodoru. I even published an award-winning memoir about my relationship with Ed that focuses on the years he had Alzheimer’s. For more than three years I’ve been having hallmark symptoms of the disease. I frequently forget things, lose things, mix things up and screw things up. Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room Email: I forget things that happened just five minutes before,  I lose papers I had in my hand seconds before, I put objects in unusual places and I can’t remember if I’ve taken my medicine. I don’t even try to remember the names of people to whom I’m introduced. And the list goes on and on. Some days at work it’s so bad I’m embarrassed. Other days I’m so disheartened I simply give up trying to do any work. In fact, this figured into my recent decision to retire. Doing my job is just getting too difficult. And I have the same crippling problems at home, too. I told my physician about this twice over the years. Each time he told me it was just stress from my job and/or side effects of medications I take for a chronic health problem. He also said I am so attuned to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s because of my experience with Ed that I’m interpre...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - Category: Dementia Authors: Source Type: blogs