Mind. I say this as someone who’s responsible for a parent with late-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
Think back to when you were a child in the classroom. The teacher calls on you. Not only don’t you know the answer, but you don’t even understand the question. You’re embarrassed in ways that only a child can be, and you wish the floor would open up and swallow you whole. If the teacher’s compassionate, he/she will move along; if not, you’ll be humiliated with questions about why you hadn’t prepared for class, or with a lecture about how you’d already been taught that certain matter and should know it.
This is exactly how life is for someone with a cognitive impairment – an ongoing unfamiliarity and confusion, combined with abject terror and embarrassment.
Also, when the mind deteriorates, so does the body. The brain controls physical functions; when the brain goes, there’s nothing left to govern digestion, continency, balance, mobility, etc., etc. Loss of mind is promptly followed by loss of body.
Yes, Jellies, as you may have guessed by now, my mother’s been declining in recent weeks, and I just returned from my daily visit. Although we just spent some nice time together – she loves me and is always so happy I’m there – I’m troubled by the devastation I see.