My Dad has Alzheimer's at the age of 72 years old. It has beend hard for me to deal with this and on top of it all my Dad just found out he has Colon Cancer. They think he is stage 2 but we will know more after he has surgery. They are going to be setting it up soon. I find it very hard to read about Alzheimer's it makes me very sad. Has anyone else had a hard time accepting this?:angel:

Yes, a very very hard time. In my family we all said ,"well, Mom is getting old, that's all it is." But it was much worse than that. I lived with her so I was the first to realise it was dementia. My brother lived nearby and also recognized the symptoms, but our sister who lived far away doesn't really accept it even to this day. Mom also has lung cancer, and in December the doctor said "only a few months to live." She is too old for surgery and has a heart condition that rules it out. But we do not see any major change in her since then. Maybe he's wrong?

You don't have to accept everything all all once. Why not just concentrate on the colon operation for now. When he wakes up from surgery he may be more confused than now, that is normal. Most of his rationality will come back. Once that is all taken care of, you can concentrate on getting him the best possible care for AD.

Dementia progesses very slowly, more slowly in elderly patients. It will not overwhelm you all at once. Take things one at a time.

Good luck!

Martha

Yes indeed, everyone has trouble accepting this dreadful disease! Just try real hard to enjoy your dad as much as possible while he still knows who you are and you are able to converse with him. That is really the hard part when you are unable to understand what in the world they are trying to say to you.

Good luck with the upcoming surgery too. This may cause more memory loss and from what our doctor told my husband and me, it may never come back. That is why they gave my husband a local for his surgery. He had double hernia on both sides. Not a good thing but he made it through ok.

Good Luck and God Bless,
Jan:wave: