So incredibly sad...

[DeepIron]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7123460.stm

I can't imagine the pain and sorrow this man must of felt... To live and love someone most of your life and then watch them suffer with Alzheimers...

So, so sad...

[Kapitan]

To be honest if i was the woman laying in the bed there id be thanking him right now, i wouldnt want to suffer.

[Letum]

Strange, I have a Aunt with severe Alzheimer's disease and althow she isn't far from
death, she is enjoying life very much.
She lives very much from moment to moment beliveing she is 25 again. For her the care-home
is the classroom of pupils she used to teach.

Apart from occasional confusion, she certinaly isn't suffering.

Perhaps other cases are diffrent or perhaps it will get worse for her. I really don't know.
I hope not.

[XabbaRus]

I think it is different for every sufferer. I knew an old woman who had Alzheimers and in the later stages it was quite bad. Couldn't remember her son's name. Funy thing is she always recognised me and my mother even though we had only known her a little while.

[Kapitan]

My mother works in a nursing home there is one resident there who suffers from it there, and she only trusts her yet her own family cannot come and visit cause it causes her to be distressed.

She shouts at them saying get away and your attacking me i dont know who you are ect, it must be really sad for the lot of them.

[Skybird]

Imagine this. An Alzheimer patient has forgotten that someone he loved has died long ago. He/she is calling for that person, and then being told that that person has died. Tragedy. Drama. Despair. Suffering. like on day one when the message arrived, years back.

And next day it all starts again, for over night it all has been forgotten again.

Death can be a friend in some situations.

[TteFAboB]

This will help alot of people who think that they're selfish put themselves in a proper perspective.

[seafarer]

I had long time old friends of the family where the husband developed alzheimers. Eventually, one day his wife came home, and he attacked her with a kitchen knife, suddenly surprised to find a "stranger" in his house, and someone who he assumed was there to rob him or do other bad things. She got out, and went to a neighbor's and called 911.

Her husband then went into a managed care facility. He never recognized her, nor his kids or friends again. And, he became more violent and paranoid over time, as everyone was a stranger to him, he was always in a strange place and an unknown situation. He died after months of heavy sedation, as that was the only way to keep him from hurting himself and everyone else who came near him.

I think not having a memory can be one of the most horrifying things to happen to anyone - the entire world would become a strange and not so wonderful place all the time.

While it sounds surreal to say it, I was not sad when he finally died (I miss my friend, but was glad to see his ordeal finally over). I know all the joy had long gone out of his life and there had been nothing in this world for him for a long time.

[DeepIron]

This will help alot of people who think that they're selfish put themselves in a proper perspective.

I know stories such as this one cause me to think and rethink my own faith and moral guides. My wife and I are very close, what we consider "soul mates" and now that we've crossed over the 50 yard line of life, decisions like the one made in the news story have more relevance.

Could I end her suffering at the cost of her life? I hope I never have to make the choice...

[TteFAboB]

Originally Posted by DeepIron

I know stories such as this one cause me to think and rethink my own faith and moral guides. My wife and I are very close, what we consider "soul mates" and now that we've crossed over the 50 yard line of life, decisions like the one made in the news story have more relevance.

Could I end her suffering at the cost of her life? I hope I never have to make the choice...

As long as it's her suffering and not uniquely yours...

[DeepIron]

As long as it's her suffering and not uniquely yours...

Well, I imagine that's the rub... And I don't think it would be possible to separate the two entirely. When you love and care so deeply for another, their pain is your pain too...