Tuesday, March 25, 2008
I am looking to speak with families who have children, ages 6-12, dealing with Alzheimer's in the family. I am researching a documentary for HBO. Thanks.
- Introduction
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Prevention
-
Caregiving
- Coping with Emotional Changes
- Coping with Memory Loss
- Costs and Insurance
- Creating a Daily Routine
- Exercise
- Health and Wellbeing of the Caregiver
- Home Safety Adjustments
- Mental Exercises
- Respite Care
- Talking to Children about Alzheimer's
- Talking to Friends about Alzheimer's
- Telling Someone They Have Alzheimer's
- Transition to Assisted Living
- Transition to Nursing Home
- Work
- Related Conditions
- Resources
looking for families with children 6-12 dealing with a grandparent with Alzheimer's
5/27/08 12:24am
My mother and i have always been very close. About 6 years ago we all noticed a change in her (my mother was 53 at the time) mood swings, depression etc. After
ruling out several things she finally had a Pet scan and was diagnosed with AD. This
has been very hard on myself and my daughters whom were very close to my Mother.
Just 3 years ago she was picking them up from school everyday and playing and having
fun with their grandmother. Slowly they have watched her go from this vibrant fun loving woman, to a fraile, disoriented woman barely knowing her own name. Now she just calls them the girls.That is on a good day, now she rarely asks about anyone anymore. This disease has been especially hard on my 11 year old those two were always together before my 8yr old came along. My oldest daughter sleeps with a stuffed frog my mom bought her and she calls it grandma. She turned 11 on May 21 and she said what she really wanted was for her gradmother to come home. Hopefully we will be able to help someone else going through something so tragic.
Sincerely,
Julie G.
11/ 2/08 9:36pm
I know that you are looking for children 6-12 years of age, however I'm 22. My grandfather who I'm very close too was diagnosed with Alzheimers when I was almost 12. We started noticing something was wrong when he misplacing his wallet or keys or not remebering where certain places were that he would drive too on a regular basis. I remeber him taking me to school one morning and I had to direct him because he had forgotten where I went to school. When I started college for my health class we had to pick a topic that relatd to us to write a paper on , I chose to write about my grandfather and his diganosis. By writing that paper I made myself and my family more aware of what he was going through and how to help him regain some memories so he could function. Throughout the years it started getting worse, he would call me and the rest of my family different names. The reason being my family all of our names start with J's and so I would be called my mom's name, my brother would be called my uncle's name. My grandfather owned a store and in 2000 he retired and ever since has taken a downward spiral. He began to fall out of his bed, he would start waking up at 5am in the morning and be dressed ready for church or work. About two weeks ago was my grandmother's 80th birthday and when I saw him he forgot who I was all together and then when told , he made the comment the last time I saw you was when you were born. I can truly say I wanted to cry because , all the memories were gone but I told myself it was the disease and he would someday remeber everything. Now we are getting to the point of preparing funeral arrangments and making him comfortable, but I still feel as though I could have done more and there has to be ways to help those who are dealing with this disease. I hope through your documentary you can educate kids and families on this disease, so when it does come time for the end they won't be left with the what if I tried this or what if I'd done that questions.
1/26/09 1:28am
Hi,
I don't know if you are still looking for families who are affected by Alzheimer's disease. My husband, John was diagnosed 3 years ago; he's 55 right now. We have 4 daughters, Sarah, 31, Carrie, 29, Alexandria (Ali), 10, and Jenna, 8. We also have 2 granddaughters that live with us, Bailey, 9 and Riley, 2.
I would be happy to share our story.
Carol
By VAB— Last Modified: 11/25/10, First Published: 03/25/08
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Dear VAB - Thanks for your post. Though it would really be helpful if you could provide a bit more information about yourself/your company, etc. for our members. Just want to make sure we are doing our best to insure accurate and appropriate postings on our site for our members.
All the best, sue (moderator)
Sure Sue. I work for a Malibu based production company called Planet Grande. We have been hired by HBO to produce a documentary about AD focusing on grandchildren age 6-12. We are working with Maria Shriver and using her experience and book What's Happening to Grandpa? as a jumping off point for discussing the effects on the family. We are looking for families who want to share their stories. We want to see families dealing with AD in all stages and we want to hear from the grandchildren about their experiences.
I hope that helps and let me know if you need more information. Looking forward to working with you.
Veronica Brady (VAB)
Hello, I ran across your posting while looking up some information om Alzheimier's Disease. My Mother in Law is now in late stages AD { although the Dr's could not confirm this, it met all the stages, toward the end of dealing with her they just said she has a severe brain disease and should not be living alone any longer }
Our daughter is now 11, and had to endure quite a lot with this terrible disease that took her Grandma away. She first started having trouble in about 1999, she was a dosen at the Ronald Reagan library since the opening. They graciously let her still volunteer I believe until 2002 as she was so very proud of doing that and knew so much about him. We just thought it was simply memory things as goes with age. She kept thinking she had the disease like President Reagan. With lots of testings {UCLA, plus numerous others } they first told us she had aphasia and not to worry. We arranged speech therapist, which was helpful going over things over & over again with her. It was difficult for us as we had moved to Colorado while she stayed in Thousand Oaks, CA. We traveled back & forth, and she was able to come to Colorado several times so the first couple years after this initial diagnosis our daughter & Grandma still were able to have a loving relationship and Grandma was always playing like a kid when they were together. Things really started to take a turn toward the end of 2002, our daughter was 6 and our Mom had a unusual scary temper outburst that scared us and our daughter. She snapped back and tried to assure our daughter everything was ok, but we knew it was more than aphasia we were dealing with. This event along with losing my Father was very difficult for a
6 1/2 year old to deal with. We hired a caretaker to be with her a few days a week, as well as the speech therapist coming 2 times a week. By the Summer of 2003, we felt she could no longer be home alone and it was to difficult for the caretaker to take on a living arrangement and she would not come to Colorado with us to live for fear of being cold all the time. We moved her into a lovely assisted living in Riverside, CA. near her other son. We would come as often as we could and called her daily. She would always repeat our names in order, when we would show up we would pick up our pictures and she would take a bit but would know us, our daughter enjoyed helping out at the cottage with all the other people with a little brain problem, as we would try and explain to our precious one. Then in the Summer of 2005, our daughter was now 9 and when we arrived she ran ahead to see Grandma all excited and what we did not expect was her not recognizing us at all, and yelled at her first asking her who she was then when we walked in she yelled for us to "get out!"
which was devastating for her, as she ran out of the room crying. We told her Grandma was having a bad day with her brain disease and obviously knew it was a heartbreaking blow for her. The next several times of us visiting we decided to shelter her from Grandma, and while my husband and I would visit her and help with getting things she would need, we left our daughter with my brother's family who alos lived in Riverside. As she never has been able to know who we are again, although at times in her looking at us it appears she is trying to figure out who we are, the stares go blank. This past Thanksgiving {07} she wanted to see her Grandma, so we all went in and our precious 11 year old just sat next to her Grandma caressing her arms and face and smiled. She is now on hospice since July of 07, we know we have done all the best we could for her, we love her dearly even though she has been a completely different person these past 6 to 7 years with this mind robbing disease, we are thankful we had a video camera when she was out visiting our daughter on all her birthdays and every other Christmas as these are the memories we try to hold on to, the loving and wonderful Mom, Mother in Law and Grandma she used to be...Obviously this is a shorten down version but I tried to re cap most of the major dealing with this disease.
Let us know if you would like to know anything else, take care hope this helps
Sincerely,
Karen Vanecek
Karen,
Thank you for your honest and heart wrenching account of your experience with your daughter and mother in law.
I am wondering if you are planning to be here in the next month or so to visit as we are planning on interviewing grandchildren for the HBO documentary. This is asking a great deal, I know, but we are determined to show how deeply the disease cuts through the generations in every family.
Again, thank you for sharing your story and for taking time to respond. Please fell free to call me at 310-420-1168 if you have any questions.
Veronica Brady
Hi Veronica, I spoke to our daughter about this and she is happy to be interviewed by you for the HBO documentary.
The time frame that works best for us, since we just got back from there on Spring Break Sunday : ) and the most affordable flights would be leaving here Thursday May 1st and we would have to return on Sunday the 4th, will that work for you? We usually fly into Orange County and stay in that area, as after we go and see Grandma in Riverside, we always take our daughter to Disneyland before flying home~she loves it there and it makes her happy after the sadness~ she also wants to be the CEO of Disney when she grows up : ) We could possibly work out April 17 thru 20th but that would be a little tougher on us. She has dance recitals & dance competitions the next 2 months so those dates are all that can work. Please let me know when you can if that works for you. I can also try and call you tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks,
Sincerely,
Karen
Hi Veronica, It was nice chatting with you today. I was going to send you a couple pictures of Vanessa with Grandma at the Sunrise place in Riverside but I can not figure out how to put a picture in here? Maybe you can email me directly? frvkev@msn.com I can send them to you that way. You can also email me if those dates in May work for you & your company, if that is easier than calling. I think I gave you my cell to but here it is again, 970-759-1679.
Thanks,
Sincerely,
Karen Vanecek