Marcie Philips watched her husband Art Plant turn from an adult into a child.
Plant was diagnosed with Alzheimer disease in January 1997. After his diagnosis and as time progressed, his behavior changed as it often does with Alzheimer patients.
"They become your child," Philips said. "The behaviour is much more like a child."
Before he was diagnosed, she noticed a change in him.
"He was confused, appeared to have depression," Philips said. "I knew he had something, I didn't know what."
Plant was tested, and in the end, it was decided he suffered from the most common form of dementia.
Donna Howard, the geriatric outreach nurse for mental health programs at the Coast Garibaldi Health Service in 樱桃视频said Philips took the right approach by going to doctor and explaining her concerns.
"Often physicians don't pick up it up by talking to the patient," she said. "It's the family members that notice the changes."
A crucial part of dealing with Alzheimer disease, for which there is no cure, is early diagnosis. The sooner a patient is diagnosed, the sooner he or she can get treatments to slow the progression of the disease.
Some early symptoms are sleep disorders, mood changes and the onset of depression, Howard said."That can sometimes be an early warning sign something is going on in the brain," she said. "If you treat those symptoms early it can kind of stabilize the brain."
Plant was put on a drug called Aricept, which had only been on the market for six months at the time.
"It does delay the progression of the disease with other symptoms," Howard said.
But Plant was not the only person affected by his diagnoses. Philips had to deal with her own reaction, especially as the disease progressed.
"The big problem is you don't have any ideas about the disease, or what it was," she said. "You go through stages of anger, resentment.
"You lose your companion. There's no conversation."
Patients with Alzheimer's often become very self involved. One time Philips told Plant she wasn't feeling well - and he told her to go tell her doctor.
She had to revoke some of his regular habits as well.
"Taking his driver's licence away was one of the hard ones. It's like taking away their freedom."
As time passed, Plant became more apathetic to the world around him.
"I was very fortunate with Art's disease in that he didn't wander, he didn't get angry."
Instead, as an avid recycler, he spent hours shredding paper which Philips would collect all over town. Philips said it was a simple task but it made him feel useful.
Philips joined the caregivers support group in Squamish.
"The most important thing that happened to me was the support group," she said.
"It made me feel part of a new family. It's only with people who are going through the same thing can you get any comfort."
In October, Plant passed away. He was staying at Hilltop House where he was taken care of since March.
"The care that my husband got his last week of life was beyond belief," Philips said.
For information about caregiver support, contact Howard or Patricia Stoop at 604-892-2293.
