STEALER
been showing signs for at
least five years prior —
symptoms we credited
at least in part to other
stressors in her life.
Over the holiday season
last year, my kids,
husband and I had gone
up north to enjoy some
snow and family time.
My mom had trouble
sitting still, pacing the
house and frantically
looking out the window
any time my dad was not
in her line of sight. She
was short with me and
my brothers and angry
with my children. She
was not the same selfassured,
independent,
kind person I’d grown up
admiring.
My father was hesitant
to seek out help. High
school sweethearts, my
parents had always relied
solely on each other.
He felt it was his lot in
life to handle whatever
was happening with her
and to do it without
complaint. I knew there
had to be a better way,
for both of their sakes.
I looked my dad in the
eye and told him that
I was going to help by
handling administrative
things. He gave me her
medical and insurance
information and I set
appointments with her
primary physician and
a neurologist. My dad,
who is hard of hearing,
asked if I could come to
those appointments just
to have another set of
ears and questions. So on
lonely place. A married mom with
on an airplane leaving Orlando,
bound for Chicago. While most
people were spending the day off
at home with their families, making
resolutions and recovering from the
face my biggest challenge thus far:
my mother’s dementia.
At 65 years old, my mother’s brain and cognitive
function had a sharp decline the previous year. She’d
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B Y K A T I E P A R S O N S
Photo by
Christina Stuart
LEARNING TO LIVE WITH MY
MOTHER’S ALZHEIMER’S DIAGNOSIS
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