The first of many signs of Alzheimer's in my mother that went undetected

I wrote the following in 2006. It was a long time before anyone realized my mother was suffering from dementia. Turns out this was one of the early signs.

I became a CareGiver before I had any idea that the word existed. It all started back in late 2003 after a series of strange occurrences by my mother. I guess I should have known when my mother ran her car over an abutment and scraped off the entire side of her car on a tree. Me, more than 1000 miles away, I was told the car was not that bad. A day later and on the scene, I found out the car was totaled. Fortunately, my tiny five foot tall, 87 year old mother was just fine. At least that is what she, her friends and all the doctors told me. While I accepted it at the time I just knew something was not right. This is when I started to worry. Often asking myself, what can or what should I do? At the time no one, not the people who saw her everyday, her personal physician, none of her neighbors recognized my mother was in an early stage of dementia. After all, she was still driving, paying her bills and going to bingo.


Bobby

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems