The Caregiver's Beacon Newsletter Digest 11/2005
Summary of the Contents of The Caregiver's Beacon Newsletter for November
2005
INSIDE THIS ISSUE

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass
of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how

My mother-in-law was a healthy 80 year old when she went to
live in an Alzheimer's facility less than a year ago.  She
could walk well, stand erect, handle her personal needs, etc.
In just the last few months she's deteriorated very rapidly.  She

I was reading some online newspapers to see how south Florida is doing
after Hurricane Wilma.  It seems the most e-mailed article for one of
them was not about the hurricane but about a driving mishap.  Notice
that this was the driver's first accident, or at least, the first one

I just called my mother and brother down in Sebastian Florida (between Vero
Beach and Melbourne) and so far so good.   It's 10:24 their time.   I could
hear the wind howling while talking to my mother.   They still have power
and obviously phone service.   Hopefully the worst is ...

I took all your advice to heart this last week. I sent out copies of a
letter outlining what has been going on to each doctor and the insurance
company. I contacted his work too. Everything was sent return receipt. I
discovered that his employer is a huge part of Cigna business. ...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A 93-year-old driver apparently suffering
from dementia fatally struck a pedestrian and drove for three miles
with the man's body through his windshield, police said.

I've been mostly lurking for a while because there was nothing new to
report. After I confronted my dad about two months ago about needing to
take better care of Mom, which I suggested could best be done by moving
to a retirement community near me which would allow them to continue ...

I thought the Lawyer was asking an rediculous fee---still think it's
high,,,BUT ridding myself of the anxious feeling about how I would live
after  giving all my assets for my husbands keep was certainly worth it
and it it is part of the spend down..

Went to see granddad this morning, needed his help for half a hour to work
on my car
While we were sat having a cup of tea the fone rang, and it was some woman
from some NHS health service, saying his son (my bastard of a father) had

This may be a little OT, but I feel it is relevant in that many of the
unaccounted for, unidentified, and missing people from Hurricane
Katrina are affected by AD or another form of dementia.
Another member here and I have been assisting families affected by

My Mother suffered a massive heart attack on Friday.  She was not expected
to live through the night Friday.  My brother and I decided sometime back
that we would not prolong my Mother's life should something like this
happen.  She is still hanging on as of this morning.  I never ...

My MIL (who is 101)  is near death now.   She really never had AD until she
went in the NH a last spring.   Even now she has lucid days.   She knows who
is there and she even knows what day it is.   I have no idea how since she
sleeps most of the time.   The reason for my post is ...

can anyone in here tell me how your loved one was diagnosed? All of the
tests have been run on my husband. It has been almost 2 months now. Each of
the 4 doctors & 3 ER doctors tells us "it looks like it may be early onset"
but not even the neurologist gives us a diagnosis but ...

We went to see my FIL last night, and we talked some about MIL.
They are no longer getting her out of bed every day.  It's now twice a
week (Friday afternoons to do her hair, and Sunday afternoons to sit
with FIL in the common area). They don't push food on her, as she has