Mama sold her 10-year-old car for $30,000 to a man who was going to drive it to California and sell it for $1,000,000—which he would split with her. That was her story, and she was sticking to it. While she waited on her windfall, she went on a spending spree that left dents and scratches in her credit cards and furrows on my brow. Mama, as it turned out, was tangled up in the web of Alzheimer’s disease, and no amount of reason could reach her.
Four million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Seven out of 10 are cared for at home, meaning at least three million family members are suffering right along with them. By the end of this century, 14 million are predicted to suffer from the disease, with a proportionate increase in caregivers. This book is a candid look into the everyday life of caring for someone who seems to be literally going through life backwards, from the fear and anger of the patient to the extraordinary things they do and the effect of the disease on the caregiver. Caregiver and patient alike are caught in a tangle of neurons and dying brain cells that tie knots in every aspect of daily life. There is the tight rope that must be walked between a mature adult’s poor judgement and problem-solving skills—such as cleaning a wooden chair with gasoline—and the dignity their years deserve. There is the lost item that can consume hours, sometimes daily, in futile searching. There are the emotions that range over behavior that is, in turns, bizarre, funny, and so sad it will make you weep. Anger sometimes hangs in the air like a November mist, condensing on both patient and caregiver, finally flooding both with loss. The tangles made in the brain of Alzheimer’s victims sometimes look like a roadmap into something akin to madness, but when you’re living in the madhouse, everything looks normal.
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