Kathryn’s father moved back in to help out while they continued to look for answers.

Finally, Pat got a diagnosis: early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

She was 55-years-old.

“It wasn’t the news that anyone wanted to hear, especially my mom,” Kathryn says, adding the specific diagnosis is a rare form of Alzheimer’s called Benson’s syndrome.

Kathryn, then 21, was in an entry-level job outside of Toronto. She quit and moved home to help care for her mother.

“I don’t think anyone put it on me, I think I took on a lot because I didn’t trust other people,” she says of her care-giving role.

Her father and brothers helped out, but she spent most weekdays with Pat, whose cognitive abilities were rapidly declining.

“I’d think, I wish I had my mom to help me through this situation with my mom. Because that’s how I got through everything else.”

Read more on the CBC.