Is it hereditary?

I have come to the conclusion (and it didn't take much thinking about it) that growing old is not a pleasant, or easy, thing. I've been saying for some time that the term "golden years" should actually be retired! The term makes one think of beauty and wealth and good things when in fact it's just the opposite for most people. Yes, I am enjoying my retirement--one of the benefits of aging. I like not setting an alarm, going to bed when I choose, and getting up when I want. I like doing all the things I am doing, and knowing that if I should choose to stay home it is okay and I don't have to use a sick day. But as I get older I can't help but wonder what my future holds in store for me in regards to my health, especially my mental health. Here's why--

For the last couple of weeks I have watched my aunt develop many of the same characteristics that my mom had as she suffered from dementia and/or the early stages of Alzheimer's. I got a call from Dennis, my cousin, saying that Aunt Daisy was hallucinating and he was very concerned. She evidently thought that there were some people trying to steal her car and they couldn't so they dropped a huge chuck of concrete on it and smashed it flat. That was only the beginning. I could hear her in the back ground and she sounded really scared. She has been suffering from a kidney infection and that could have brought all this on. In fact, the doctor last night said that many times in older people infections can cause this. But I think it is deeper than just an infection and the medication.

This side of my family has suffered from dementia for several generations. I have come across a court case concerning the custody of my great great grandfather. He had been declared insane and was living with his daughter, my great grandmother. Later in her life, she also suffered from dementia and was confined in the Nevada Asylum for several months. I recently found out that she had at least one brother who was also a resident of the asylum for a time. I vaguely remember Granny Mann. My grandfather, her son, died in '76 after suffering for several years with what was then called hardening of the arteries, very similar to dementia and Alzheimer's. My mom, his daughter, also had been diagnosed with mental problems. Now I am seeing the same thing in her sister. So what do I have to look forward to? It really worries me that I will probably end up like them. I know that there are new medications coming out all the time, so hopefully I won't ever get as bad as the others have.

Two weeks from today I am going to have my hysterectomy. I am not worried at all. I know that God is going to take me through it with flying colors. It's just all the preparation for it. The surgeon wants me to have a colonoscopy, so that is scheduled for the Tuesday before the surgery. So that means on Monday I will do a liquid diet and have to drink that nasty stuff to clean me out. Then on Wednesday I have to do it all again to prepare for the surgery. I should get a gold medal for having to drink that wicked stuff two times in one week! Golden years--oh yeah!