I have been the caretaker for my grandmother for about 3 years now. My step mother also helps but we have separate rolls. My S/M is over weight and can only help with limited things such as grocery shopping and bills. I myself am a 22 years old single mother that only weight 80 pounds. My responsibilities were changing her legs, (infections) bathing, cooking, cleaning the house, taking care of her cat. While she was still at home, I moved in with her for about 6 months since her house was on the other side of town and figured this would be better for both parties.

She suffers from Alzheimer’s and soon after moving in; she could no longer remember who I was. The first time she asked me who I was, hit me hard. I had to walk into the other room and just cry. After that, I had to learn to accept it. I decided for her best interest to put her into a nursing facility. She would walk outside at night and turn the stove on. Also, she would stay up all hours of the night walking around the house and digging through her stuff. It’s hard to believe that she didn’t know who I was but if she found something that belonged to her years prior, she could tell you descriptive details about how much it cost and when she bought it.

I go to see her a couple days a week. She celebrated her birthday on Dec 9th and I brought family members (who have been no help and had to beg to come) and my grandmother threw a fit as I tried to wheel her to her party. It’s getting very hard for me to handle this as I know that she is in her final stage and she is no longer the strong, independent person that I remember. I think she knows my face though. When I see her all I want to do is hug her because I know that she has limited time here. It’s just so hard to see her suffer. She can no longer walk or talk. Just wish it could be different.

It's hard to watch someone you love suffer with this. I lost my mother to Alzheimers the first of November last year. She was diagnosed with the disease for 5 years...which was a relatively short period of time. Some AZ. patients live for 10 years with this dreaded disease.

Your grandmother may sit at a level for a long time. She may pass through a stage fairly fast, or she may linger for a long time. You just never can tell how long it will be.

Just remember that it isn't really your grandmother that you are seeing. It is an imposter in her body. YOur real grandmother has already left and it watching over you. The imposter is just using your grandmothers body to throw you off.

I hope that you can find peace as you see your grandmother through this last journey. YOu might find some good advice on the Alzhiemers board....