My mother was diagnosed with dementia in 2014, at age 52. She passed away on November 26th, 2019 at age 57. Two weeks before her passing, we had family pictures scheduled for my son’s 2nd birthday and we decided to include mom in the photos which were going to be a challenge since she had become so stiff and was wheelchair-bound. We are so grateful for these precious moments captured, not realizing just weeks later, she’d be gone. Before Thanksgiving, before my son’s 2nd birthday, and before Christmas. I was so confused with her diagnosis at such an early age because just 5 years ago, I didn’t know people her age could develop this disease.
After hearing Max Lugavere, I started to learn just how common this had become. Mom’s progression seemed to have a slow start. Her speech disappearing and having such a loss for words was the first big thing we noticed, she’d get so frustrated and embarrassed. Sometimes she’d lose her temper and get agitated by people and noise. She’d start sleeping a lot more. Loss the control of her bowels. Had to be wheelchair-bound because she became a fall risk and started to lose a ton of muscle mass and strength. She had a bad fall where she hit her head and had a black eye and I believe this was the start to her very fast and fatal progression just in the last 6 months. I would encourage every young person to really look into the resources we have these days for brain health and what we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones from such an awful disease. I am thankful for all the awareness there is and for Genius Foods to help open my eyes to ways to give my family a better lifestyle.
My mother loved classic rock music, she loved looking through magazines and tearing our recipes. She enjoyed crossword puzzles and loved to host dinner parties. She loved to make things pretty and to entertain guests. She loved all things Christmas — listening to classic Christmas tunes, dancing around while decorating. She loved sending sweet cards and was a great gift giver.
