Receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease can throw both you and your aging family member for a loop. If you can keep some of these tips in mind, they can help you both to come to terms with the changes she’s experiencing.

 

This Disease Changes Your Senior’s Brain Slowly

The good news about this disease that sets in slowly and that changes slowly is that your senior has a little bit of time. She doesn’t go from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease to the latter stages overnight, so you still have some time with her. She has time to share with you how she wants her care to look in her later years, too. This doesn’t make the entire situation easier, but it can help a little bit.

 

Your Role in Her Life Will Change

Your elderly family member likely gave you quite a bit of advice and help throughout your life and now it might feel as if your entire relationship is changing. While this is true, really what you’re doing is providing her with the care and the assistance that she needs in order to maintain the quality of life that she wants.

 

Learn What to Expect

Alzheimer’s disease can likely be new territory for you and for your aging adult. It’s best if you use all the resources that you can to learn as much as possible about what’s happening next. Support groups and your elderly family member’s doctor can help you to do this. Working with elderly care providers can help, too. They’ve got experience working with people who have Alzheimer’s disease and they can share what they’ve learned with you.

You’ll Miss the Relationship That You Had

You’re always going to miss the relationship that you had, even as you form a new one based on how things are now. Don’t forget to allow yourself to properly grieve for those changes. There are certain things that both you and your family member expected and hoped for in her remaining years and that vision of what was to come isn’t going to happen exactly that way now. Let yourself process those feelings.

Remember also that your aging family member isn’t deliberately trying to be difficult at any point. The changes to her life and to her brain are difficult for her to deal with, too, and you’ll both need to have time to adjust to your new normal.

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering Elderly Care in Pittsburgh, PA, talk to the caring staff at Superior Home Care today. Call us at 412.754.2600