What is something that could happen in the future that actually scares you when you think about it?

Sorry for the length. TLDR : End stage Alzheimers.

My grandmother's dementia progressing to the point where she forgets how to eat or drink. I went over to pick her up from her assisted living facility and found her sitting on the toilet in the dark in her room silent disoriented. She generally seems to recognize my face and always lights up when she sees me, but a lot of times is confused as to how she knows me/who I am. I tried to talk to her from the doorway to announce my arrival and didn't turn on the lights immediately and she was almost catatonic looking.

I turned on the light and greeted her like I had just walked in, and she recognized me and slowly snapped back to general confusion and forgetfulness of where we were going and why and thinking her stuffed toy golden retriever was a real dog again and obsessing over what a good boy he(sometimes she) was. I got her into a clean adult diaper and fresh pair of pants and she has needed physical help dressing for a little while but the state that I first found her in made me think she was starting to forget basic functions and maybe even who she was sitting in the dark there. My brother and my mom have found her like this before but I didn't look at it beyond her needing physical assistance.

Now I'm fairly certain this happens all the time, and am sure that she'd remain in that state until staff did their rounds which is several times a day at least and far from negligent..but the thought of my grammy on a toilet in the dark unsure of who or where she was for up to a few hours on mothers day was a very unpleasant realization of the reality of her situation. It was much worse than her not knowing her sister has been dead for decades and having to lie that she couldn't make the drive and was celebrating with my mom's cousins instead. She's 88 and I feel terrible saying it, but I hope she dies before the Alheimzers reaches the inevitable. I don't want her to suffer through a painful and slow death not knowing who she is or how to swallow food or water, and not knowing she was loved. It makes me tear up just typing it out. I can deal with her not really knowing who I am as long as she still recognizes me as someone she's close with and am glad she has a 'pet' she loves, and it's bittersweet when I realize she doesn't know her sister is dead and am okay with protecting her from reality...but the idea of end stage dementia within a few years is a heartbreaking reality I only just began to acknowledge.

/r/AskReddit Thread