Holding On To Her Identity: Losing My Wife To Alzheimer's
by Sammie MarsalliPublish: Sep 28, 2024 Series: Preventing Her Shutdown From Alzheimer'sAdvice & How To Biographies & Memoirs General NonfictionBook Overview
One of the greatest fears of Alzheimer’s home caregivers is that their loved one will lose complete recognition of them.This was the one thing I was so terrified of when my wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She could forget who she is and lose all sense of self. If that happened, she would no longer recognize me, her three children, or any member of her family. This was my horror because many of us assumed this was a common occurrence with Alzheimer's without any information. I was scared to death.
My obsession was to hold on to her identity, and to protect it in any way I could. Every minute of every day, I began tireless interaction with her as her 24/7 home caregiver. I was aware that she might forget who she was at any moment.
Even the neurologists were unable to predict when or if this event would occur. There was no road map to follow, as every victim responds differently to their behavior changes with Alzheimer’s. I only had memories of the movies we have all seen where the Alzheimer’s victim is staring at a blank space and doesn’t know who or where they are. My whole life, my being, and my passion became dedicated to stopping that from happening.
Professional help and guidance from support groups is always welcomed, but they cannot be available in real time when radical behavior changes occur. Only home caregivers can respond when they happen.
I was alone in protecting her ability to know who she was in our family. What I did might not work for another Alzheimer’s caregiver for a loved one. “What worked for me may not work for you.” We are each on our own in learning how to interact with behavior changes and to protect their self-identity because there are no two victims with behavioral changes alike. They can vary and are subject to the particular stage of Alzheimer's they might be in.
Discover the unique and personal strategies an Alzheimer’s caregiver's husband, invented to hold on to her identity. None of these activities were medically advised because medical advice is not readily available for caregivers when major behavioral changes happen at the moment. Only home caregivers can respond.
Readers will learn how an Alzheimer’s home caregiver created activities and therapies to make sure his wife knew who she was and who each family member was.
What were the everyday activities that encouraged interaction and confirmed self-identity?
How was he able to interact with his wife, even though she was unable to speak?
How was she able to reach out to him?
Witness the mitigation of intermittent “blank stare” moments.
Find out what events led to her identity being preserved?
“Holding On To Her Identity Losing My Wife To Alzheimer's” is an inside look at how an Alzheimer’s caregiver’s experiences helped him become his wife’s protector and defender of her self-identity while racing against the Alzheimer’s clock.
