Once again, I encountered a family that just doesn’t understand Alzheimer’s. It is a difficult transition to make, when your Mom is demented. Changing your expectations is very difficult. It is nearly impossible when the hired caregiver is completely uninformed about the disease. She sat there in my office with the patient and her daughter and argued with me that the patient would remember the events of the last few days if she (the caregiver) just prompted her(the patient) enough. It sure looked like bullying and badgering to me!

I would love to have the luxury of time and stop to train both the daughter and the caregiver, but unfortunately, I don’t. So I chip away at the ignorance and the unrealistic expectations as best I can. The poor patient sat there looking like she was about to cry. “she CAN”T remember” is becoming my mantra.