The Path of Alzheimers

As Alzheimer's progresses, you find yourself asking awful, bizarre questions:

1. At what point is it best to have professionals assit/perform the care of your family member?
2. When is the quality of life compromised to the point of not having quality?
3. Would your family member want to live like this?
4. How the hell will the average person afford any kind of dementia care?
5. Can someone please euthanize me in the event I get to the point of not knowing anything and not being able to care for myself....?

Our health care system is in no way, shape, form or fashion set up to deal with the coming onslaught of dementia care that is going to be needed. People will suffer, and families will suffer simply because no one knows what the hell to do.

Example: Right now my mother is at a lovely assisted living facility that I would recommend to anyone, Apple Tree Court in Richardson, Tx. The cost for the services there are about $2700-$3000 per month. Needless to say, my siblings and I pick up some of that tab. However, as she declines, as she is showing signs of doing, she may necessitate leaving there and being in a memory facility. These are a minimum of $5000-$8000 per month. A tab we cannot afford. Most people cannot afford this unless they have planned very well for their future.

I wonder, at what point would my mom not want to participate in life. Depression is a major problem because of the lack of mobility (can't drive) and because your life does not have fluid memories any more. We are no more than a collection of our memories....

I am thankful Mom can still do all the things she needs to do; bathing, grooming, feeding herself. What a blessing. But what is next? And worse....I feel 'next' is going to be less than good...

How are we to live out our days?
Where are we to do that?
So many questions and no answers, or at least, very poor answers.