The War For Rose

At first we started noticing my mom was forgetting words 
and was really having a hard time with names.  More so than 'normal'.
Then she forgot how to play her favorite card game.

As the days and months went on, 
we noticed she was slipping further and further away
into the grip of what we now know is severe dementia. 
Or it may be it Alzheimer's. 

  

It doesn't really matter what you call it, the results are the same and they are devastating. 

My dad was losing his love of 60+ years.  
We were losing our beloved mom and our children 
were losing their wonderful grandmother,
Rose: The heart of our family.

What made this even harder is that at the age of 83, she is extremely healthy otherwise.  She is on no medications.
She has perfect balance, she would take the stairs two at a time 
and she is able to bend and  touch her toes.
She was fiercely competitive when playing ping pong, croquet and basketball.  Her grand kids remember coming out of the losing end of those games all too often.  And she she challenged you to a game of ping pong, she had a wicked kill shot and would use it at will.
But my mom had reached the point 
where she couldn't shower or dress herself anymore.
She didn't remember how to brush her teeth. Or turn on a light switch.  She had forgotten how to do the simplest things that she had done for years.
She didn't care about keeping the house tidy and clean--something in which she took such pride.... before.

She could barely find the words to utter a complete sentence
and most times would simply give up and stare into space,
her mind caught in a web of thoughts that couldn't find their way to her voice without getting all tangled.
She stopped engaging in conversation --and yet sadly she was aware enough of what what happening to her to become frustrated with herself. She would get angry.  Several times she would get so worked up that she would say she wanted to end her life.
That's a difficult thing to hear your mother say.

We all struggled to accept what was happening to her, grieving 
for the loss of her essence and tried somehow to establish another, 
much different, relationship with her. 

We would console each other by saying how this might be a kinder way to lose someone you love so deeply. One little piece at a time, until they were so far gone that you barely recognized them anymore and it would be a blessing to them (and us) when the suffering ended.
Now I realize were all going through a grieving process. 
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression....we had just reached the point of acceptance.

But through it all there was still a tiny bit of hope.

I started to dig deep in the research surrounding brain health, dementia and Alzheimer's.   To find some clue, some reason for this disease to take hold in my mom, and more importantly what could be done about it.  Was there some trigger?  Was there some nutrient or lifestyle change that could help?
If I could get down to the root cause, then maybe there could be something that we could do for her.

The more I learned, the more empowered I became.  After all, this is what I do.  I help people become healthier.  I search for the answer to help their bodies rebuild health.  It's a little easier when you are talking about losing weight or eliminating allergies. Those things are fairly easy when you have the proper tools.  The brain is a little more tricky and so much more complex.

This disease became my focus.  I was not willing to give her up to this disease that quickly.  Not this person who was everything to our family.
  
After much thought and consideration, my husband made the decision to retire early so he and I could give my mom a fighting chance.  

Simply accepting what was happening to her was not an option.
We were not going to give in to this disease.  
We would do what we could to help her fight for her life. 
We declared war on dementia---and so began the battle 
for my mom's brain and her essence:  The War For Rose.

Our initial goal?  To stop or at least slow the progression
 of this brutal disease and to give my mom at the very least
 --a better quality of life.

It's been 4 full months since we became her caregivers.  

We've made some huge changes in her diet 
and added targeted supplements to support brain health.
We've also made some key changes in her routine and environment.

And so far we've experienced some surprising progress which 
makes us hopeful that we are gaining ground.

However, we quickly learned with a disease like this, 
progress is not a two steps forward and one step back dance. 
It's more of a zigzag.  
This disease keeps throwing us curve balls and we just have to
figure out how to hit them back.

So, in addition to my usual health coaching tips,
I'll be sharing what we are doing with my mom 
in the hopes that you can help someone you love with memory loss. 

In fact, the strategies I'll share will help anyone who 
would like a little more focus in their life and would value 
long-term brain health.
Even those who simply struggle with the "now where did I leave my keys?"  or "why did I come in here?" syndrome.  
(Is this you?)  

Maybe you'd like to readily remember names and dates or
not get so easily distracted when you are at work or doing chores at home.
Maybe you've been diagnosed with an issue that affects your brain.

Just know that Knowledge is power. 

And with this knowledge you can make educated choices for your health and the health of the ones you love.

Our brain is the epicenter of all that we are, so in my opinion, 
we need to show it the respect it deserves and we should do everything we can to support its health.
We would be silly not to, right?

Maybe you will be able to start a little sooner with those lifestyle changes, invest in the nutrition and reap the long-term benefits of optimal brain health.  And maybe because of your wise actions of prevention, your health span will match your life span, 
and you'll live a long and healthy life.

Anyway, that's my hope.  Stay tuned. 

Be well, my friends
~Anne