Dad’s condition never sat well with me. How could a mathematically gifted man, who defied fate, fall victim to what could only be described as a hereditary ailment? His will is the talk of legends in his hometown, his independence the envy of those who emigrated to the United States with him and yet his current condition leaves him to burden everyone around him. This is not the way he would have had it. It just doesn’t sit well with me.
It has been 5 years almost to the date that Dad was originally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Our family has come a long way in the journey to accept, accommodate and apply the recommendations of dealing with the ailment. Dad has also gone down an interesting journey, to say he is better would not be accurate. To say he is worse would also not represent his reality.
5 years ago my mentality towards dad was pacify him so that he could live the remainder of his live in some kind of peace. His constant anxiety attacks and stressful rants were too much to bear for himself and for everyone around him. Today I can say that, although there are still some trying times, we are successful in reaching this milestone. He is a calm man, whose at last showed affection towards all of us.
With the stress and anxiety removed, dad pacified and mom having gotten past the more difficult stages of reconciliation, I think its time to shift our mentality again. It never sat well with me why dad became the way he did and the truth of the matter is, while the oldest of us has at least 30 years until we face the hereditary lottery, there is no harm in trying to figure out why? Scientifically, not philosophically.
The doctors have all but written off Dad. His neurologist won’t take an appointment with him. His general practitioner was more nervous that Dad was at their last appointment. The social worker while nice in that she makes an effort, is an idiot.
This leaves us to think and act through this. Luckily for dad, he raised 6 college educated children. It was Anish that set me down this thought train with the book Ultra Mind Solution. Why would dad, a brilliant man, mind start to deteriorate so quickly?
There is no way to redefine the future without studying the past.
Dad’s mental decline over the past 2 years is pretty simple to understand. He simply does not eat anything nutritious. His diet consists mainly of Parle-G cookies and very little dinner. He does not eat consistently and craves only sweet food. He has very low energy, sleeping for most of the day and gets little sun light. Really his diagnoses of Alzheimer’s sort of snowballed him into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I want to try to reverse this. Just as I’m putting myself on a 6-week regiment of eating for my mind and body and not for pleasure, I’d like to jump start dad’s body with a nutrition overhaul. Its not going to happen overnight and I certainly don’t expect results in a week. But what do we have to lose and what does it really require from us?
He’s already started drinking the Ensure nutrition drinks. I think its paramount that we start experimenting with ways to make him eat healthy foods that will nourish his mind.
But going back further than that, the question how he got to his anxiety prone self in the first place. Lets put the stress associated with his life aside. There are obvious factors that negatively impacted his overall persona during that time. Was it more?
In the UltraMind Solution, there is a heavy emphasis on the correlation of mercury toxins and dementia. Is it possible that this happened to dad? Is he literally a mad-hatter? I mean the guy did drive a $500 Mercedes 300SD diesel from the 1970’s that smelled awful. When the engine wasn’t on, it smelled like mold, when it was on, correct me if I’m wrong but it smelled like exhaust. Did the window’s work on that thing? Jayant was the only other person that really spent any time in that car, did he have mercury toxin problems in high school or currently?
Anita bought some Glutathione to start a mercury detox. I’m not unrealistic about timelines here. It can take 2 years of consistent and persistent detox to rid the body of mercury poisoning. It wouldn’t hurt dad to start sweating again.
About 10 years ago was when dad started eating wheat bread. Is it possible he has a mild allergic reaction to it that causes brain inflammation? I mean how would we ever know? To this day we give him wheat bread because we think its healthy… It could be hurting him.
What do you guys think? Our response to Dad’s diet or lack of is well its Mom’s responsibility. What would happen if we all took an ACTIVE interest in ensuring he gets his nutrition? We changed our mentality about the finances and it we did it. I think we should put our collective energy behind finding (cooking), experimenting foods that dad will eat and that will provide him the nourishment he requires. Worst case scenario, we teach ourselves what we need to eat to stave off our own dementia!
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