I was taught in medical school that Alzheimers patients don't suffer, their families do.
In early disease state that is not true.
For me when I am stressed and hurried, I have anxiety as I have difficulty dealing with the situation.
Most Alzheimers patients are on anti-depressants as I am myself.
I went to a party where the host has Alzheimer's.
This year he did not cook while in the past he always did.
This year he walked around the crowd.
He didn't say much but he seemed happy to have all his friends around him.
I asked if he still plays racquetball.
He said yes.
I asked his wife and she told me he has not played for 4 weeks.
She said this is the last time they will hold their yearly party.
Her husband gets upset if she leaves him at home alone.
They need to sell the home and find a smaller house to get ready for the step of entering him into a nursing home.
All his memorabilia will be sold. This will hurt him. Loss = Grief.
Recently another friend moved his Alzheimer's wife to a nursing home.
She was very upset.
It did not take too long for her to adapt.
My wife worked in nursing homes. She said the reason the AZ patients wander is that they are looking for something familiar.
In the end e stage of Alzheimers the patient has loss of self.
Is this a nirvana stage of Buddhism?
Excerpts on Buddhism from a World Religions book/course
After seeing my friend wander harmlessly around the party, I saw my future self.
I also see myself in a later stage when I sit isolated from the world and listen to music on headphones.
Is this a terrible state or is it a state of Grace.
I will no longer be committing sin.
I will forget all my bad memories.
I will probably not be in pain.
I will not know my name or who I am.
I expect to be treated well and thus not anxious. If too agitated or aggressive there are drugs for that. Today chemical restraint is considered as bad as physical restraint.
A Buddhist Monk walks up to a hot dog stand in NYC.
He asks the vendor:
"Make me one with everything"
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