Fear of Alzheimer
I am scared of that old German gentleman. Forgot his name. Oh, yeah. Alzheimer.
I started to lose my brain processing speed a long time ago. By my estimates I am about 100 times slower than I used to be. From time to time someone gives me a puzzle I remember I solved in 30 seconds years ago, but now it takes me 30 minutes. And it is getting worse. When I moved to my new apartment recently, it took me a year to remember my own phone number.
On the positive side, I feel quite famous, according to one of the signs of success. I am often greeted by people I don’t know.
My moment of action came when I was in my basement doing my laundry and couldn’t remember how to turn on my washing machine. This is after 10 years of heavily using this damn machine. I started to look for the button to push, but there were no buttons. There were only knobs, and I couldn’t find the word “on” anywhere. After struggling with my memory and with those knobs, I pulled out one of the knobs, and the machine started.
I panicked. I am afraid of Alzheimer’s Disease. I do not want to become demented. I do not want to forget how to count or to stop recognizing my children. I do not want to become a drain on my children’s time, emotions and money.
I had complained about my memory to my doctor before, but the only thing he ever found was anemia. This time I was more insistent. I had an MRI that ruled out tumors. I had more extensive blood tests that confirmed anemia and showed a Vitamin D deficiency. But then he sent me to a neurologist who suggested a sleep study. Finally I got a diagnosis of severe sleep apnea. I am so happy now. I might not have Alzheimer’s Disease. In the worst case scenario, I might die in my sleep. In comparison, this doesn’t sound so bad.
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Math is Fun:
I fear that thing too but the calmer I am, the more productive I become. Hope you are well!
2 May 2015, 1:29 amDodik:
Cheer up, Tanya, there is good chance there will be a treatment before you get it. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/24/alzheimers_n_6924974.html
5 May 2015, 5:26 am