Last week, I experienced an earthquake and Hurricane Irene, but I kept thinking they’re tough, but Alzheimer’s is tougher! With all of the reports on Irene, what could happen was concerning. I was prepared, but in my mind I wondered how would I fare at home with my mom.
It’s challenging on a daily basis to “deal” with the day-to-day speak, questions and actions of one who doesn’t understand, but now a hurricane was “a coming” (term from my favorite episode of the Golden Girls) and there was no way to explain it to my mom. Thankfully she didn’t get rattled so there wasn’t a need to keep her calm, just to keep her as informed as best I could. When I mentioned hurricane, she understood the impact of the word, and though her retention is slight, I reinforced my words by showing her what was happening on The Weather Channel and local news. I’d have her look out the window and just pray I’d get through it. Thankfully I did and thankfully so did my area.
Alzheimer’s descends upon a person like an earthquake, it just comes on without any warning. Even if a person starts to forget things, you don’t know if it’s from a forgetful moment or if its early onset. And once it hits a person, the devastation of the decline begins with erratic behavior like a hurricane.
In my next post I’m going to share Caregiver tips.
CONFESSIONS OF A MASTER CAREGIVER 
You are so right about how you describe being a caregiver especially when a loved one has Alzheimer’s. Talking about the hurricane and earthquake, I thought you might find this piece by Visiting Nurse Service of New York blogger and our director of Adult Day Care Services, Debbie Stricoff interesting. She gives specific advice for caregivers caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s on how to deal with trauma like many experienced with Hurricane Irene. You can read it at http://blogs.vnsny.org/2011/09/02/tips-for-caregivers-helping-people-with-alzheimer%E2%80%99s-after-hurricane-irene/