You Can’t DIY Alzheimer’s Dementia Treatment

ByPeter Dredge Alzheimer's Dementia treatment

But you can project manage it.

I visit a number of Alzheimer’s social media sites and find them disheartening or frustrating, or both. I’m a harsh judge but have saved Ann’s life (remember she’s recovering from end-stage Alzheimer’s, a one in 25 million event) through being hard-nosed, having a clear vision of the end goal and finding the necessary experts to help. The struggle against Alzheimer’s is life-or-death and allows for no compromise or doubt.

I feel disheartened when I find sites that are aimed at helping people cope with the “inevitable” decline of their loved one. I get it, they’re trying to come to terms with what appears to be an inescapable circumstance but don’t understand where their “What do you mean nothing can be done, it’s 2021?” wondering has gone.

As a species we are unique in our ability and willingness to change our environment, it’s baked into our everyday lives. Why not accept that our garden will grow weeds or that our car will lose functions as it ages, it’s inevitable isn’t it? Weedy gardens are anathema to proud homeowners and most of us like our car’s multitude of convenience functions to keep going for many years. If these expectations aren’t met, we actively get the problem sorted. Why should Alzheimer’s be any different? Alzheimer’s is treatable in most cases if you act early, you just need to find the right people and that’s not difficult when you know who you need.

Bluntly, the above folk are being supine when they should be angry. My action process looks like this: initial anger or frustration morphs into “what is the actual problem and who can help me solve it?” which then leads to action. This has been a repeated process in Ann’s and my journey, currently I’m preparing a no-holds-barred response if Ann’s rights to rehabilitation are blocked again as happened two years ago. It could be interpreted as “taking names” and there’s an element of that. My aim is clear, make it very hard for anyone who gets in Ann’s way and thus increase her chances of getting what she needs. I also want to help reduce these barriers for others following in our footsteps, it’s a big mission motivated by an enduring anger at the horrors Ann has faced from the people who should have been helping.

Now to the frustration bit:

Even the sites which purport to support the active fightback against Alzheimer’s have many posts illustrating that people are trying to DIY an Alzheimer’s recovery. Inevitably their journey is fraught as they attempt a handful of simple fixes to address a multitude of complex problems. I recently had ongoing correspondence with a woman trying to address her mother’s worsening Alzheimer’s. Despite repeating at every communication that action needs to relate to identified problems, I was bombarded with repeated questions as she disappeared down yet another quick fix-rabbit hole. I repeatedly advised her to seek competent advice which would lead to a full Alzheimer’s workup, a long and involved process, eventually, my advice was heeded.

Dr Bredesen advises that the Alzheimer’s patients his teams treat have between ten and twenty five of of a possible forty or so contributing factors. Each person has a different combination, the possible permutations are many. Why would you think you could DIY this?

I often refer to fixing a modern car as a metaphor for treating Alzheimer’s, I can identify broad symptoms (e.g. it’s running roughly) and that’s where it stops. The first step is analysis (a complex process these days) which identifies the problem. Once that’s done I can project-manage the process, in this case I hand the actual work over to the experts but still have budgetary and scheduling oversight. The process is exactly the same for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, you know something is wrong, you have it analysed (diagnosed) and then set about organising the recovery process in concert with the required experts. Obviously “exactly the same” is in principle only, the steps are a lot more complex, as is the problem.

You’re faced with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, what should you do?

  • Ask the question, “how much do I love this person?”, “what am I prepared to do to save their life?”. I cover this in a chapter in my latest book titled “Love And The Big Yellow Taxi”. If the answer isn’t unequivocal join an Alzheimer’s “ministering to the doomed” social media group.

  • Learn what you’re up against. If you don’t understand the problem, you haven’t a prayer of getting it sorted. I’m near to launching “Knowing Alzheimer’s” a short inexpensive online course that will turn you into one of the world’s leading Alzheimer’s experts (that’s no exaggeration). Keep an eye on our website Beating Alzheimer’s for updates.

  • Now you know what you’re up against, it’s time to build a project plan. By this stage, as an Alzheimer’s expert you’ll know what this should look like.

  • Build a team, they’re out there and easy to find once you know what you’re looking for.

  • Get on with the job and claim your life back.

My message? Accept that Alzheimer’s is treatable in many cases, stay clear of groups that assume it isn’t as they’ll destroy your motivation, find out what Alzheimer’s is and get on with reclaiming your life back. It’s really that simple.

Kia Kaha! Stay Strong

Peter

Similar Posts