My MIL recognized her son!

[DawgHouse]

MIL has Alzheimer's and has been in a nursing home for over a year. She doesn't recognize ANYONE or know her name or any of that. We live in Florida, so DH went home to NY to visit the family. He went into the nursing home tonight and Mom brightened up and exclaimed "Hiiiiii!!!!!!!"

The nurse said, "Do you know who that is?" And she said, "Yes, THAT'S MY SON." :)

She didn't know his name but still... DH couldn't hardly tell me about it tonight because he was so choked up. :(

Alzheimer's is awful. But she's still in there somewhere...

[reyd reid reed]

1. It truly is awful...

:hug:

I'll keep a positive thought for you and your DH and his mom.

[bertha katzenengel]

2. Yes, DawgHouse, she still is in there somewhere.

:hug:

[liberalhistorian]

3. That's great! My stepdad has early-onset Alzheimer's, so

I know what you're dealing with. He's just now starting to have trouble recognizing people, so we're grateful whenever he does make a connection.

Every little moment like that is a treasure; hopefully, there'll be more of them with her.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Yes, the weird thing about Alzheimers is that they phase in and out of

dementia.

Thirty years ago, my mother had a friend with Alzheimer's who finally had to be put in a nursing home. She had always liked me, so when I came back from studying in Japan, my mother and I went to see her.

She was babbling some nonsense to the nurse, but as I walked into the room, she zeroed in on me and asked, "Can you still speak English, or will I have to speak Japanese to you?"

In other words, she recognized me and knew where I'd been for a year.

But within seconds, it was back to nonsense.

My stepfather has Alzheimer's, although not that bad yet, and sometimes he's all there and other times he's completely gone.

In fact, I began to suspect Alzheimer's a few years ago, when he would suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, become completely incoherent for a few seconds, and then go on as if nothing had happened.

[DawgHouse]

5. I didn't realize she would fade in and out like that.

We all thought that she was completely "gone" if you know what I mean. It's not giving anyone false hope or anything, but it especially touched him since he doesn't get to see her very often.

I hope someday this disease will be a thing of the past.

[nini]

6. That is the most heartbreaking disease

and I know how special those moments are.

Here's a sad story. My stepmom had alzheimers and was in a facility as my dad was failing. She hadn't recognized us in some time and barely knew my dad anymore. When my dad died her sister brought her to the mortuary. She didn't know what was going on and was fascinated with the flowers. She didn't recognize any of us. She had walked by my dad's casket a few times and nothing registered to her at all for some time and we were all happy she didn't feel the grief - it was a small consolation of that disease. Eventually, as she was walking around looking at the flowers she again walked by the casket and looked at my dad. She stood there a second and gasped.. "my husband" she said and cried. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I ever saw. WHY couldn't that poor woman have to have a moment of clarity at such a sad time. She went back into the dark in about 10 seconds. It was so sad and it broke my heart for her. She died about 10 weeks after my dad - it was a blessing for her. She was a wonderful person who we lost 10 years of her life to that damn disease. :cry:


Hugs to your husband. I know how he feels.

[auntAgonist]

7. how wonderful for your husband! We had a similar

experience a month ago when we visited my MIL. As soon as we walked in to her room she looked up and said "Well, ... *****, you came to visit!"
She was so happy to see him. Usually she just smiles and nods and laughs a lot when we're there. I'm sure she doesn't know who we are 99% of the time. This ONE time though made his day! It's so hard for him and his brothers to see their mom this way. That day was truly a gift. We have no idea how long she will live (or suffer) with this horrible disease. We'll take all the good days we can. :)

aA