Dolly's Diagnosis

Yesterday Dolly greeted me at her door wearing a bathrobe and slippers. She had been in bed for two days, according to Willa who arrived a couple of minutes later. Dolly said her stomach was upset, maybe something she ate. Willa responded sternly, "Go take a shower! Get up and move around!"

When Willa got up to leave a few minutes later she asked me to walk her to the door, and whispered that she took Dolly to the doctor two days ago. She is in the "early stages" of Alzheimers, and is taking Aricept. The doctor says as long as she's taking the medication she can stay at this plateau for a couple of years. She is still driving and living alone.

Then Dolly proceeded to ask me the same questions over and over and over and over and over for the duration of my four-hour visit. "Can I get you something to eat, Mom?" "No, I'm not hungry. Just a cup of tea." Once she mistook me for one of my kids. That's a new one. I have suspected for some time that Dolly has Alzeiheimers (not a vitamin deficiency!), but now it has been diagnosed, set in stone, like a death warrant. She doesn't know she has it, doesn't even know she is taking new medication that is upsetting her stomach.

She wonders if my dad would like her hair since she is letting it go gray. Her world is narrowing, moving backward, and the TV, usually blaring golf tournaments or game shows, was silent. It has all come down to a cup of tea.