ONE of the worse things about this rotten disease is losing the ability of taking care of myself.....By Phil Reinoehl

My journey along this road of learning to live with Alzheimer's is becoming just a little more frustrating. I read the article by Kerry -- Haunted -- and I am at the beginning stages of the gentleman trying to figure out how to get out the correct credit card.

I recently am in the process of changing bank accounts to make my move from where I live now to the great state of Texas with my Son and his family.

So I tried to do this myself. I have done this before and went to my credit union to ask them what I needed to do. They told me my account would be closed.

I then went out to my car and got to thinking I wonder if I can still use my debit card or will I need to come and draw out money from a living, breathing real person,

I thought and wondered and just...

Dave went to town to run some errands. I stayed home and chatted with DASNI friends at http://www.alzinfo.org/alztalk/flashchat.php … I had to call my dentist for an appointment because I broke a clasp on my partial. I can’t get in until Monday… I fixed supper and now I am watching American Idol… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

I would like to thank Dr. Sivak for the invitation to become a guest blogger. I dearly appreciate it! In January of 2010 we moved my father, 71, in to a memory care home. Dad has dementia, either the vascular type or the Alzheimer's type or both. About three weeks later my mother joined him in the memory care home. This was unexpected but necessary. My mother, 70, has a long history of mental illness and prescription drug addiction. Some combination of the two has led her to have memory problems herself and specifically what I would call amnesia both anterograde and retrograde. These amnesia and memory problems have been coming on very slowly over the last several months and have become a lot worse in the last few weeks. This, obviously, has eliminated my mother as an adequate caregiver for my father. Hence, the move to memory care for both of them. One of the things that has struck me has been the fact that I am having to grieve the loss of my parents despite the fact they are...

I seem to get a lot of queries about SSRI's so I am going to try and technologically advance and do an audio podcast on them over the next week or two. I don't know how it will go, so bear with me. I will be on Wisconsin Public Radio this coming Monday 3/15/10 at 8am CST, talking about Alzheimer's and When can I Go Home? So if you are the neighborhood of Milwaukee, or Madison, or north of Chicago, or East of the Twin Cities, tune into your local WPR affiliate.Now I have had this blog up for maybe 7 months. I am sure you are as tired of listening to me as I am, so it is time to move into a new realm. The realm of guest bloggers. I will have my first one coming on in a few days.His name is John H. Pruett Jr. He is a therapist and counselor down in Georgia. His father has Alzheimer's. Not so long ago, I had the honor and pleasure to be able to read a little story/tribute he wrote about his Dad. I don't want to sound too cliche' but it was pretty moving and just a really decent,...

Major news outlets buzzing about report released by the Alzheimer's Association today. It all comes from a press release from the Alz Assoc. It is always good and important to keep this in conscious awareness. Data comes from a Federal Survey, not sure who conducted by, but the just of it is that African-Americans are at twice the risk of whites, and Hispanics 1.5 times greater risk than whites at developing the disease. It does point out the relative under-diagnosis in these racial groups. I think the point is that part of the rise in these numbers, is that fact that it is now being diagnosed more often in these racial groups. Alzheimer's does cut across all socio-economic groups races and religions. It will be important to see how this new report affects research funding, I certainly hope it does in a significant way.It is still underfunded, relative to other diseases, and still profoundly ignored.Its an awesome press release and the Association is doing their job at raising...

The best doctor in the world will not stop the inevitable. We will all die. Only in the last decade or so have end-of-life wishes become something discussed readily and, for some people, it's still a subject that is best avoided.

It was another rainy day here in Piedmont… The chat room is working now and I was happy to chat with my friends again… I picked up around the house, brushed the dogs, did laundry, fixed lunch, and supper… I had to call my doctor for another prescription for Advair because I lost the one he had given me… Tonight I watched the wedding on “The Bachelor"… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

You can sometimes connect with a person in the late stages of Alzheimer's by using something from their childhood as a memory trigger--a song or porch swing..... By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

For some time now, I have been trying to think of ways to get more students on this website, and how I might work with students to improve what we were doing here. Students of every age and particularly those that have been touched by Alzheimer's disease.

Max Wallack is only 13 years old. He is providing us with important insights into Alzheimer's disease when he writes on this website. There are many millions of students that are being touched by Alzheimer's disease as I type these words.

I want to get more students involved with the Alzheimer's Reading Room. I am now hoping to find some teachers and benefit from their experience and advice. My first attempt to get students involvement failed -- miserably. Then came Max. Max re-energized and convinced me...

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

This is a very interesting Phase II clinical trial. Basically, the researches are looking for people that are suspecting Alzheimer's either on their own or because someone around them suspects Alzheimer's. In other words, the person is experiencing memory loss, or senior moments that are disconcerting.
"By learning more about the early stages of the illness, we may be able to delay or prevent full Alzheimer's," said George Grossberg, M.D., director of geriatric psychiatry and principal investigator for the study at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. "With this study, we want to know if a medication can help people who may be having a few senior moments, before those issues develop into daily memory problems that affect their ability to function on a regular basis."
Safety and...

Here is the link to the radio interview
http://www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=44869

The Infectious Visit  by Lori La Bey of Senior Lifestyle Trends
Today was a wonderful day.  My cousins, Sandy and Donna came to visit Mom.  We talked of getting together for years.  It’s hard to believe how much time has passed by.  We went from talking of getting together with our classic cars at the downtown North St Paul  Friday night car shows, to me now being divorced over two years (Tom got our 66 T- Bird).  Where does the time go?  It was so nice to spend the day together, just catching up and laughing.
Yes, it was this past Saturday we met at Mom’s nursing home so Sandy and Donna could visit with her first.  None of us knew what to expect as she sleeps most of the time these days.  The girls said, “Hi Aunt Dorothy.”
I always loved the tone of their voices.  They are both so love filled, it just seeps out them.  I don’t think either of them really knows that about themselves, but I’ve always noticed it since I was a small child.  I could...

This is a wonderful little story. A story about a wonderful family and how with a little ingenuity and a big heart they can make a big difference....By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Tonight at the Pines of Delray we are having a dinner. The purpose of the dinner is to raise money for Hospice. Good cause.

For the third year, a family of Italians that live here are planning a big Italian dinner. They are paying for every thing out of their own pocket. In addition, they are cooking all the food. They have been cooking away all week.

A ticket to this event costs 15 bucks. One hundred percent of that 15 bucks goes to Hospice. The event is sold out. 185 strong. In addition, you can order the dinner and they will deliver it to your home. I am not sure of the exact number of dinners but I will find out. I should mention, they make great Italian food and great cupcakes....