How Do You Tell Your Kids That You Got Alzheimer's?

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

I am bringing this interview with Greg O'Brien up today because I think it is important. The interview gives you some real insight into a person living with Alzheimer's disease.

The interview is thought provoking, real, and it is likely to cause you to think and feel. If you are patient and listen you are likely to become very emotional. In fact, you might need Kleenex.

In the end, a very important message is being delivered here. There is life after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, and the person living with Alzheimer's is still alive inside.

Listening will be well worth your time and effort.

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Answers to Problems Faced by Alzheimer's Caregiver and Their Families

I was diagnosed in 2009. It was scary, and I remember sitting in my neurologist's office. He had all the test results and the clinical tests that I failed and the brain scan and all that, and he's sitting next to my wife. He said, "You have Alzheimer's."

Greg O'Brien gave one of his sons, Brendan, power of attorney, which meant Brendan needed to understand the details of his father's diagnosis. "We need to talk about this," Greg said. But Brendan resisted. 

Click to hear Greg recount their difficult conversation, which started a week after he told his children about his diagnosis. 

'He Started Yelling And Screaming' 

So, the doctor looked at me, and he said, "Are you getting this? You have a battle on your hands. I'm talking to you as if you're terminal." 

Now, I have a strong faith and I know I'm going to a better place, but I started thinking of my wife and kids. And I could feel water running down the side of my face. And they were my tears.

Source NPR

 On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer's

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