TV personality Dr. Oz felt an incredible amount of guilt once he learned his mother, Suna Oz, was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. 

“I’m feeling guilty because I completely missed the signs until fairly late in the process,” he recently explained to People about his mom’s failing health, admitting that it was a “gut punch” for him.

Dr. Oz, 59, and his two sisters unfortunately didn’t notice Suna was forgetting how to do a lot of things — like how to dress herself and talk. “If the right word was, ‘You look beautiful today,’ she would use, ‘You look pretty prettier today.’ I missed those clues,” he explained.

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Mom ❤️ It was painful to admit that her health was declining, but doing so allowed us to get her help as soon as possible. You have the power to speak up and say something if you suspect any Alzheimer’a symptoms in a loved one. Doing so may be uncomfortable, but it just might help slow down the progression in someone you love. . There are 6 early Alzheimer’s symptoms you should never ignore like I did: (1) Challenges in planning (2) Difficulties completing tasks (3) Confusing time and place (4) Problems with words (5)Trouble understanding visuals (6) Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps . Visit the link in my bio to read my mom’s story. . . . #❤️❤️ #love #endalz #family #mom #droz

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Missing those signs made the TV doctor feel “frustrated and mad” that he couldn’t help his mother sooner. “Everyone in my family probably could’ve figured this out, myself included. But my wishful thinking was that it was just mom being a little bit older, she’s stressed out, my dad was ill. And so we lost our truth,” he said.

“Alzheimer’s is like a snake in the grass. You don’t see it. You only see the effects of it suddenly. And if there’s a wind blowing the grass, you don’t even notice the grass moving strangely. It sneaks up on you,” the TV star added.

In order to take care of Suna properly, the Oz family has been letting her live with her sister in Turkey so she could receive around-the-clock care. “She’s aware, but she’s forgetting some things,” Dr. Oz admitted. But seeing his mother fight the disease has been too much for him to bear.

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I recently found out that my mom, Suna, has Alzheimer’s disease. Hearing the official diagnosis was devastating. But just as painful for me was the realization that the signs were there all along — I had just been overlooking them. . When my mom’s stubbornness increased, I simply blamed it on her getting older. My sister noticed she started doing her makeup differently for the first time in 60 years, but kept it to herself. When my mom started giving some of her belongings away to people she barely knew, I thought she was just trying to lighten her load following my father’s passing. But these seemingly subtle changes were in fact the first indicators of Alzheimer’s. . It was painful to admit that my mother’s health was declining, but doing so allowed us to get her help as soon as possible. You have the power to speak up and say something if you suspect any of the above symptoms in a loved one. Doing so may be uncomfortable, but it just might help slow down the Alzheimer’s progression in someone you love. Visit the link in my bio to read my mom’s story, and to learn the 6 early symptoms you should never ignore. . . . #endalz #mom #❤❤ #love #droz

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“These are not normal things from my mom. And that’s the most painful part of this whole process because I end up losing my mom twice,” he explained. “The woman that I love whose bright eyes were there for every experience I’ve ever had as a child — those eyes are starting to dim. The light that made her who she was is starting to go out.”

“As she stops knowing what I’m talking about, as her memories evaporate, she stops being my mom,” he continued. “And then her body will still be there, and obviously I love that body, but it won’t be the same as loving my mom.”

We’re so sorry that your mother is going through this, Dr. Oz.