3 Important Things to Know When Dealing with Alzheimer's

This is a journey, so we're still learning about Alzheimer's. We'll share more as we go but here's 3 really important things we've learned so far:

1. It's a family disease - meaning it takes a toll on the person with the diagnosis and on the people closest to that person. So, it's important to take care of the person with the diagnosis AND the caretakers.
2. Laughter is an amazing medicine! It helps everyone - the person with the diagnosis, family and friends. It's hard to explain unless you experience it but it's okay to laugh about the disease. For instance, if Mom gets "mad" at one of us for something that we didn't do (but she thinks we did), we can talk with each another and laugh about the good news...she'll soon forget about being mad.
3. The Alzheimer's Association has a ton of helpful information on their website - www.alz.org - including a zip code locator through which you can find local offices. In our opinion, Joyce Finkle and Jill Smith at the Spartanburg, SC Alzheimer's Association office are two of the most knowledgeable, caring and compassionate people we've ever met.

Lisa (also known as "The Jewel" - but that's another story)