Hi,
This is my first time here. I'm thrilled to find a forum for boomer women. I am a writer, a mom, and I love to meet new people. I bet there are a TON more "Debs" in here. It's a 1950's thing.

welcome Deb:)

Hi Deb and welcome. My MIL passed with that horrible, horrible disease you've so beautifully written about. I'm certain you will be an inspiration to many of us here. So glad you found us.

Hey Deb - WELCOME! Good to have you join us. I'm quite familiar with the devastation of having someone you love fading into the mist of Alzheimers. It's such an apt analogy - they are indeed fading into the mist or fog. My Mother passed away in 2001 from this frustrating disease.

You're going to love it here in this Forum...it's full of really interesting, helpful women. I'm sure you will get hooked quickly like the rest of us!!

Welcome to the group Deb...

Pamela,
I'm very interested in reading Pink Jasper:Gens From The Journey. When I was a little girl I wanted a pen pal. Now I have "sisters" in Australia, Canada and England. I love your web site. Hello to all who were kind enough to reply! I look forward to getting to know you.

Hello Deb. Welcome to BWS.

Hi Deb, Welcome. You'll find lots of other writers in our neighborhood.

My father's brother died of Alzheimers. That is fear I have for my dad. Eww...I couldn't stand it, but who can?

I hope you'll browse the other forums and jump right in!

Thanks Deb for being interested in "PJ" - as I've said elsewhere we are waiting right now to get word it's available....STAY TUNED!

I think these long-distance writing projects work quite well when you are involved with "like minded" people...sounds like you are in that position yourself - why not give that a whirl? We've all found it to be a lot of fun....even though we have never met in person, we feel as close as real sisters who live in the sam town. Maybe that's what the internet has done - - - given us all a "town" to live in together. It seems to work.....

Again - Welcome to Boomer!

Hello, Deb. Welcome to the boomer women forum. Glad to see you. Kick back, put your keyboard in your lap and have a look-see at our community.

Welcome to the boards Deb. I am sure you'll find a home here at BSW. It is a habit that you'll never want to be free of. Lots of wonderful, caring, sweet women here. Glad you're here.

Sandpiper

I have no sense of direction. None. After finding my way here yesterday I had to have Cagebird link me back! What I lack in sense of direction I make up for in listening and sharing skills. I am just so happy to have found this site. Aren't baby boomer women just amazing!

I am from Illinois, a former Art teacher who escaped into my world of writing and in writing finding my true self. My web site is being built and I can't wait to visit the ones I see listed here. I'm just thrilled to find ya'll.

Deb the author,

Where in Illinois are you from. Was born and raised there. From a small rural area composed of three towns close to each other. Rock Falls, Sterling, and Dixon.

Been in Florida for 19 years. Love it here. Glad you had help finding your way back to us.

Sandpiper

Welcome Deb! Good luck with the website.

Deb,

I also lost a mother to Alheizmers. It's a dreadful disease, and I'm glad you wrote this book to help others battling this illness.

Diane

I've been wondering if Alheizmers has always been around or if it is something fairly new. I don't remember anyone speaking of great-grandparents suffering its effects or anything written about it way back when? Anyone know?

I don't really know anything for sure Chatty, but I would "guess" that it's been around forever - just didn't have a label of Alzheimers way back when....we just lumped all these disorders into the category of dementia and left it at that. I suspect that as diagnosis techniques were refined, they were able to really see slight differences in TYPES of dementia - there are so many.

Chatty's post makes me wonder if alzheimers might come from something we are taking into our bodies.

I grew up in a community stuck in the nineteenth century. We grew all our own food, never went to doctors, didn't take medicine, and I absolutely never heard of anyone with alzheimers or the symptoms of it.

Hmmmm.
smile

Another thought might be that people are living longer. Isn't it a disease that comes with age?

This post makes me think of ADD/ADHD. I never heard of anyone having this when I was a kid. However, I can look back at my elementary school and quess at who may have had it.

Welcome to the group Deb! Your going to love this forum!!

P.S. My husband is also from Illinois.

Teresa

Dots,
That's a good point. But people where I grew up lived well into their eighties and nineties and none ever had dementia or alzheimers. But I'm not sure that is true everywhere.

I read something recently that indicated the 'average' life span is increasing partially because far fewer young people die fron accidents and infection.
smile

There is a form of alzheimers that hits people in their early fifties. That scared me! I'm buying the book Natural Cures today. Maybe he has some info on it because he hates the FDA and drug companies.

I wonder if increases in alzheimers diagnoses especially in the fifties might result from the recent release of pharmaceuticals to treat, not cure, it.

If they can convince us boomers (the largest target market in the country) that we're all getting alzheimers just cause we can't remember anything, it could certainly be profitable for the pharmaceutical companies with the drugs for it.
smile

Hello Everyone

I believe that Alzheimers, like Pam said is a form of dementia and that of course in the past what is known today as Alzheimers, was dimentia.

Anything to do with the mind is related to the spleen, which is the seat of the mind and the element of air. For example when we use the mind too much we deplete the earth in our bodies, which the spleen governs. Air which represents the mind is also governed by metals. Within the last 50 years we have become dominated by metals through technology and metals polluting water and land. Too much metal in the mind/brain and we are affected adversely at the mind and memory level.We have also become more sedentary, staying indoors attached to our computers and technology in order to make a living. Less exercise, less wholesome eating, no fresh air and bad water.

The body is basically made up of 4 major elements, earth, air, fire, and water and the componenets within them. Each of these elements affect specific organs within the body, so it is imperative that we keep our bodies in balance through the kind of air we breathe, water we drink and foods we eat.

It is important to understand that 50 to 75 years ago, the land still had natural bacterias and so the vegetables that we ate or the grains that we prepared had a heck of alot more food value than today. We were also connected to the land more and our communities, since most of our food was from regional sources and we ate what the seasons provided.

In these times we have an enormous amount of choices with regard to food but I don't believe that the benefits outweight the negatives, in essence covering our soils with pesticides and destroying the natural bacterias in the land that provided strong produce, or polluting our air and water for the sake of ever increasing profits is destroying the health of nations.

Alzheimer's ladies is just an imbalance in the way we live, it isn't something that just shows up and is the enemy in old age. We have to come to a place where we are not divorced from our bodies.

Western medicine has taught us that disease is the enemy and it just shows up, like an enemy. Disease is a direct by-product of our thinking patterns, our emotional patterns and our way of being, how we process life and what we ingest, either through food or our thoughts. Our actions will delineate our destiny.

All in all, we do have power over our health and our future, if we educate ourselves with regard to balance, and work to free our minds from fear, as the energy of fear itself depletes the body's systems.

Power, ladies is in each individual's hands...it just depends on what we do with it, and within that power is the ability to understand ourselves and gain knowledge of ourselves....

We are not replicas of other people's misfortune, we are all unique and can create the lives we dream of, for that is the power of the creation force within us, when used with knowledge, wisdom and will.

We are in control of our destiny every single moment and nothing can be held from us...if we but listen the heart within and seek knowledge and knowing, rather than listening to the whim and banter of other's fears.

Most of what we read, see and hear is based on research reports, and views given to the media. A) who is paying for the research reports. Rember ladies most of our universities are funded by pharmaceutical interests and universities hold patents. To whose gain does this research benefit?

All in all, if you 'follow the money' you'll come across more truth than you can deal with sometimes...that's why it is so important to connect with who you are on the heart, mind, soul, spirit and body level. For the knowledge and truth within will lead you on a journey that will free your heart, mind, body, soul and spirit and the journey to that freedom will bring joy and a lightness of being as the layers of past beliefs and fears fall away day after day as you come home into yourself and a knowing that supercedes all fear.

Enjoy the day ladies, it's brighter than you can imagine.

With love
Leigha

My Daddy, who had Lewy-Body dementia was a construction foreman. He exercised daily, extremely, was a health nut, and drank GOOD water. He still was overcome with dementia. He was outside every single day. He was retired ONE year and during that year he was continually active and outdoors as well.

AZ or AD was was first described by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician, in 1906. Alzheimer had a patient in her fifties who suffered from what seemed to be a mental illness. But when she died in 1906, an autopsy revealed dense deposits, now called neuritic plaques, outside and around the nerve cells in her brain. Inside the cells were twisted strands of fiber, or neurofibrillary tangles. Today, a definite diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is still only possible when an autopsy reveals these hallmarks of the disease. Since Dr. Alois Alzheimer's was the first person who discovered the disease, AD was named after him.

One reason I think we are seeing more and more cases are the pesticides being used on plants and I also believe alumnium and radiation exposure have something to do with developing AD. A good investigative article can be found at
http://www.ecotalk.org/Alzheimer'sAluminumPhosphateIndustry.htm

As the article says,...Adding fluoride to drinking water in the U.S. started in the 1950's. "Fertilizer use was not a common practice in the United States until after 1870, when phosphate and lime were applied to crops like cotton and tobacco. By the end of World War II, an era of intensive agriculture began...


JJ

That's fabulous information JJ, hopefully more people will begin to realize the cause and things will change for the better.

With love
Leigha

That's very interesting JJ. Sounds like we're not the only people who see an increase over time. Seems like it's everywhere today and among younger and younger people. I wonder if there is some source of the phosphates, etc. for the woman in Germany?

Excellent information.

Hi Deb, I also live in Illinois, I'm in Decatur. Welcome to the boards.

Hello new friends! I didn't fall off of the earth. I have had company since last Friday afternoon. What a thrill to come back and find so many posts! JJ is right about the history of Alzheimer's disease. It was once thought that losing our memories was just a normal part of aging. We know that it isn't. My dad also died of Diffuse Lewy Bodies Disease (probably). As JJ said only an autopsy can determine this and no autopsy was performed.
The care giving role has fallen to the Boomers and I find that nearly every one I talk to has someone in their circle of friends or family who has Alzheimer's disease. There are 4.5 million Americans affected. I wrote the book because I couldn't find a good resource when I was searching for something. Dad was changing by the hour and we had no idea what would come next. When he was diagnosed the Neurologist didn't even give him a follow up appointment. He was just sent home to deal with it. As he began to hallucinate and become very aggitated and hide things and stay awake all night, etc. I started keeping a journal. The journal is only a small part of the book. I also pulled in experts in the field of research, Geriatric Care Management, a Psychologist, and M.D. and two other families who were caring for a loved one.
I have also decided to get busy with a novel I have had stuck away for several years. It is the opposite of Into the Mist. It is fun and silly and sad and I'm going to get it in shape to publish it.
I'm so glad to find so many sisters here. Sherri you are not too far away from me. I'm down around Alton.
hugs to all.
P.S. Is there a spell checker here? I type fast and don't look back.

No spell checker, but we don't care.

We aren't called the sandwich generation for nothin'. The majority of my friends are in some way, shape or form caring for their parents , or other elderly relatives. If they aren't now, they have been in recent months.

Deb, that's so interesting. I just realized from what you said about Pen Pals that I wanted pen pals when I was a kid. And look at us now! We have pen pals all over the world. Love and Light, Lynn

Deb,
Before we leave the subject of being caregivers, or hey, maybe we won't, but in any case, I want to say that what I would like to see developed would be strict...VERY STRICT laws governing VA homes, nursing homes, and private care homes.

I cannot tell you the abuse I witnessed first hand. I could go on and on, but I won't because its so depressing, and if I ever got started, I'm afraid I wouldn't stop. This forum couldn't hold all my feelings about some of the things I've seen and overheard.

On the other hand, there should be rewards for the angels I came to know and love who gave the absolute best care they could to every man in the dementia ward where my Daddy was the last year of his life. God will surely bless them!

JJ

JJ, I have seen similar treatment with children at a YMCA. It's possible poeple think the kids and elderly can't stand up for themselves.

I have also met many angels who work with children too.

Dotsie you have said a mouthful. Just a month ago this happened to me. I turned 65 (yuk) and as of June 1st was eligible for Medicare A/B. I signed up for a supplement as well. In July there was an error and my supplement Ins. Co. said they were notified by CMS I was no longer eligible for Medicare. When I went to get my prescription I was charged full price and learned I had been dropped. Long story short and the point of all this was I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED by anybody. Otherwise I could have staved off the complications and inconvenience this has caused me. I called my supplemental health plan only to be told rather rudely "you were told. You were called several times and messages were left for you and you never called us back." I went balistic so much that they gave my call to the head of the company who assured me his assistant would check into it and call me back...one hour later she did. It seems some b-witch too lazy to do her job simply wrote 4 separate times on my file that she called and left me messages. The woman brought the file to my home and showed me. I the showed the woman my records of calls taken by me (my job)around those same hours and days proving I was home. I said to her, some of these dam young snots trhink because we are seniors, we are senile or too stupid to fight back. I also showed her I have no message machine or service to leave a message with. I said "she lied and I want her fired." I received a letter of apology from the company and a copy of her pink slip....I have since straightened everything else out. Now imagine that I was a Senior that was slower and less combative, heaven only knows how many elderly people have been taken advantage like this...???

You go Chatty! So many people think they can slough off their job and then lie about it, and no one will catch it or complain. I'm glad you got her fired. Maybe next job she'll actually do what she's hired to.

I can't believe you got someone to answer the phone. That is definitely one of my whines...push one for this, and two for that....

Wow Chatty! You are an inspiration! My son once told me that his dad taught him to live, but I taught him to "bitch." I was really insulted until he explained that he meant I showed him how to go through channels first, then go around them when necessary. His believes his own son is alive today because he "bitched."

Is there some way to get your story out there? I would really like to see this incident publicized. Not to cause problems for any particular company, but to show just how easily people can be taken advantage of if they don't know their rights, or stand up for their rights.

Again, you go girl!

I'm not sure about how to get this experience out there except by ALL the zillion people that will read it here. I am just so darn tired of being treated like a feeble minded old useless unimportant bag of bones because I am a Senior citizen. I am normally not into getting a person into hot water but because of this womans out and out lies about leaving me 4 messages, I lost my membership with my HMO. I had to pay full price in August for prescriptions because I was NOT notified early enough. I paid $228.00 instead of $77.00 and I still can't figure out why she lied on her reports instead of actually calling me. It could have been alot worse for me if I'd have had to go to the hospital. I just got so ticked off and decided to make an issue of it and hopefully help other Seniors that aren't well enough or as tough as I am. Some of my dearest friends are the Seniors in the nursing home I visit. Some of them hardly can dial a phone anymore. Someone has to fight for them, for us all and by God I will not be ignored or put out with the trash as long as I have a clear thought in my head and a mouth to express myself with....I call myself a SEASONED CITIZEN and the seasoning is hot and spicy so watch out...

I'm with you Chatty. On another note, I'm tired of being treated like a ditz because I'm female. I was at the car wash and this guy in an SUV suddenly throws his car in reverse and backs up into my car. He tried to act like it was my fault. I was already having a busy, stressful day and was trying to make it to an appt. so it just lit my fuse. I told him, "Oh, you're right. This is how I work my scheme. I started out driving and old clunker and would pull up behind men in SUV's that don't bother to look in their side or rear view mirrors before backing up so I can gouge them and get money from them. That's why I'm driving a Mercedes. It was bought from all of my scam money." I got in my car and slammed the door as hard as I could. He just stood there with his mouth hanging open.

You go Dianne!

I have always wanted a Mercedes....Hey, I'm thinking here.
I'll be hanging out at the car wash this Saturday
Thanks for the sca...uh idea, Dianne.

I'm hot and spicy too Chatty with a sprinkle of salt n pepper on top.

Oh lord, gonna get me...a Mercedes Benz

chick

You're bad girl. My little Mercedes is seven years old and only has 35,000 miles on it. I always find business cards tucked under the windshield wiper, asking me if I want to sell it. Nope. Not ever. It's gonna be a classic. It's my little black bullet. My other ride is a 1940 Ford Pick-Up, aqua blue with pink pinstripping or however you spell it. It has a Corvette engine and just screams!!!! I bought it from my aunt after my uncle passed away. He had a huge building full of antique cars. I'm a car freak, just like he was.

Way to go Dianne. So many people try to pass the blame because they can't live with what they've done.

With love
Leigha

Dear Chatty

I think what you are doing is wonderful and the fact that you are a senior came as a surprise to me. I don't see you as a senior but as a human being with a sharp intellect and a good wit!

It's unfortunate that people treat others so abysmally! What I find that is absolutely inane is the fact that the knowledge and experience of senior citizens isn't a priority. Instead, we train younger people so we don't have to give them benefits, and we cut their salaries in half...and resent paying out benefits to seniors, when they paid into them to begin with.

Where on earth is the intelligence in North America? IT FOLLOWS THE MONEY! Sad state of affairs.

Keep the fire burning Chatty...you're indeed a grand force!

With love
Leigha

I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S LIKE HAVING SISTERS!
I drive a little red Miata convertible. You wouldn't believe all the stuff I have hauled home in that little thing!

It is like having sisters in SO many ways. I think all of us feel like that too. "Sisters of the heart" we are!

I wanted a little red Miata when the first came out some years ago...such a cute little car. One of these days I'm going to get a convertible of SOME type....just don't get much of a "thrill" driving my Blazer. But I do still have my Dad's 1987 Cadillac DeVille - it's only got 40,000 miles on it and looks brand new...now THAT's a comfortable ride!

My dad had that model of Cadillac. Like driving a boat, right? I loved it.

I think my cat believes my car is her summer bed. She likes to sleep on the rag top. My daughter pointed out that half my life is spent cleaning up after my pets and she's right.

I love the Viper. It's so sexy. I test drove one and it scared me it was so fast. I figured the roads would be a lot safer without me behind the wheel of that car.