What did get my attention was when my father went to the hospital for tests on his heart in a nearby city. My mom called me in a panic. She had driven home in order to get some clothes together so she could check into a hotel near the hospital. However, when she reached the house, she said the garage door opener wasn’t working and called the fire department. She didn’t think about using her key to the front gate to the courtyard. As we talked on the phone as she was preparing to leave, I asked her what she was going to do with their elderly dog while at the hospital. She said she was going to leave the dog outside, a potentially serious lapse in judgment since a hard freeze was predicted for that evening. Fortunately, this story ended positively since Dad was released from the hospital that day. However, the sad part of this story is that it took two years  before we were able to get the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Much of that delay was due to Mom’s refusal to go to a neurologist, family dynamics and a case of denial on everyone’s part.

Hindsight is often 20/20 when thinking about the course that Alzheimer’s takes.  The signs may be there, but often they are very easy to overlook until more serious symptoms (such as a lapse of judgment) emerge.