Anyone besides me having a hard time watching the HBO series on The Alzheimers Project? It's certainly well done, but the vignettes of the patients' lives were so sad. I am still dealing with the realization that this is happening to my husband (and to me) and the grief and loss that brings. I watch for a short time, then go do something else.

I watched the Alzheimer's Project "Memory Loss"...that was hard indeed...Especially when they showed a woman at a nursing home...who was 75 years old...Could no longer recognize her son,kept referring to him as "a friend". The son would keep telling her...in a harsh tone...That he was her son..I felt so bad for him(son) cause it also seemed as though he didn'tunderstand his Mother's illness or was in denial as are so many when the diagnosis is given that their parent..is no longer competent...I was really sad for him...
Really sad....It also made me think of my own Mom who passed away at a nursing home...and brought back sad memories...I didn't want to relive...

[This Message was Edited on 05/17/2009]

Yes, I could recognize myself in the son. My husband (64) got the diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment in January. For the last couple of years I have felt ignored, frustrated, and unloved. I'm sure a lot of it has been his brain deterioration. I keep repeating, "don't take it personally" but it's hard.

How are you now?

Dealing with it everyday...the realization that I will never see Mom again...that is truly so hard...even with the dementia...My Mom was Mom...I love her even more...because I felt so bad..that she got Alzheimer's...She was a diabetic...She could have gone blind,got kidney disease,heart problems,etc.

But it was Alzheimer's..that she ended up with....Sometimes I would ask myself..."Why? Alzheimer's and not one of the other diseases associated with diabetes". This Alzheimer's stole my Mom from me...for the almost 4 years of her life...that is the hardest to deal with...That is all I can say....

I recorded the Alzheimer's series on my DVR. It was informative and well done yet hard to watch. We just found out a few weeks ago that my grandmother (age 82) has Alzheimer's so it really hit home.
I think what upset me the most was when the woman in the wheelchair was terrified of snakes and such. Their fear is real and it is so hard to see that and even harder at times to comfort them. And her friend in the mirror that never would talk back or come to visit, that was really heartbreaking.

What did give me hope is that they have learned so much about the disease. I am optimistic that maybe one day soon they can better treat or eradicate the disease. They have come a long way with research. My cousin was on the research team at USF in the early 1990's that discovered the importance of estrogen in Alzheimer's females.

I can't watch any shows that deal with Alzheimers. I don't want those shows to show the downside of the disease. Don't we alreay live that. The television shows I like to watch need to be uplifting and full of fun and joy, to offset the reality we sometimes we deal with.
Maria

I guess I still need the information in spite of the fact that it's hard to watch. But I didn't make it through the whole series of shows. I can crack my denial just a little bit at a time.

Same here.....I couldn't bring myself to watch the series, although I'm sure that it was informative. I used to read everything I could find about Alzheimer's Disease, most of all any research being done to find a cure. My husband is now in stage 7 and I have given up all hope. I rarely read anymore and hardly even look at the message boards. I live momemt by moment....anything else is unbearable. I just hope that I am strong enough to continue to watch my husband die.