Not an easy caregiving task to accomplish. Doable. Just not easy.
For whatever reason dementia individuals are terrified of water. I know my own mom-in-law doesn't particularly like to even wash her hands.
And taking a shower? Ohmigosh.
And taking her teeth out to let them be cleaned? What she remembers is going to the dentist and coming out with no teeth.
Randy, my husband, usually has to catch her before she gets out of bed in the morning and can finagle her into the shower. He is not always 100% on getting her dentures out. Sometimes the best he can do is get her to brush her teeth and rinse her mouth out with mouthwash.
I remember meeting Randy at the hospital when she was released after her surgery. I got there just in time for her shower. He figured it would be easier to shower her there as they are equipped and there is more room in a hospital shower. For whatever reason, they had a male nurse in and out; this I do not understand. Even though a dementia patient usually loses all sense of modesty, this just seemed wrong to me. He, the nurse, also seemed less than effective. My mom-in-law was sitting there saying things like, "You know I don't have any clothes on." "Don't do this to me." "Why are you doing this to me?" Anyway, I got there in time to hear her screaming. While I do not relish the thought of seeing her naked, between Randy and I, and the absence of the male nurse presence, we got her showered and dressed, ready to go home.
The fear of water to a dementia patient is very real. Something we do not understand and I suspect we never really will.
My sister-in-law recently took Faye (my mom-in-law) to the doctor within the last month as we have tried two caregivers to no avail and we needed to have her officially diagnosed with end-stage Alzheimer's. We have to work through the system. Fortunately, Faye was "misbehaving" so her new doctor could see her behavior. I say fortunately because it is important to note that sometimes a dementia patient acts just fine when they are out of their own home. Apparently, Faye called the assistant who took her blood pressure a "fucking bitch," which I totally believe. She absolutely HATES having that done. (My question has always been why do they pump the cuff so high to begin with?) Faye also seriously dislikes going into the small exam rooms and having the door closed. Her old doctor, who moved, was able to get her to cooperate for her blood pressure and took the fastest readings on planet earth. She would also let the door stay open. One time, she even examined her in the hallway! Anywho, not knowing the "rules" of how to get Faye to "behave" at the doctor ... she, Faye, has been diagnosed with end-stage Alzheimer's (which is good and bad) and supposedly has been referred to a caseworker.
The problem with that is the Kaiser system only does medical home care and not hygiene. Ummmm, hello? Hygiene is medically necessary. Why? If a dementia patient is not cleaned properly, or at least the best you can, they can get all sorts of infections, like urinary tract infections which can then lead to worse behavior which can then lead to trips to the emergency room leading to a hospital admission. Why, oh why does the "system" not see hygiene as medically necessary? I just do not understand this at all. What is the point of having a caseworker if they are not going to assist with hygiene, which is a HUGE, I mean HUGE, issue in the dementia world?
So far, though, our third attempt at a caregiver is working out. Granted, this is only week two, but she seems to be a good fit for both Faye and Les (her husband of almost 50 years). I know Les has been resistant to having someone in their home, but so far so good ... granted, it is only week two and she has only been able to get a shower accomplished once, but in those two weeks she has taken Faye to get a pedicure (which she seriously needed) and to get a haircut (which looks great!). Faye also had an accident at the restaurant today and Melanie apparently didn't make a big deal out of it, just took her home and got her cleaned up. A+ in my book.
The best way to deal with difficult behaviors, I think, is to STOP, I mean absolutely STOP, telling the dementia individual NO or don't do that or telling him/her he/she is wrong all the time.
Good example. Faye had her shirt on inside out the other day. So what?? She was up, dressed, and covered. Who cares? Les was telling her she needed to fix her shirt. First thing Randy told her was that her shirt was wrong. I'm like, "It's not a big deal. She's covered." Some things just do not matter.
An inside out shirt is so minor in comparison to what your loved one could be doing. Just go with it.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
The reality is ...
Thoughts from November 4, 2015
... unless you have walked this journey of dementia/Alzheimer's you have no idea how ugly this disease is.
You have never seen your loved one pee and poop on themselves and not be able to clean it up.
You have never seen your loved one have absolutely no interest in life, not even a little tiny bit.
You have never seen your loved one not want to eat, beginning to lose weight.
Disappearing right in front of your eyes.
You have never seen your spouse, day in and day out, go make his mom dinner every night, while super exhausted from working all day, because she won't eat otherwise.
You have never seen your spouse be so giving of himself to ensure his mom is safe and well cared for, as best she can be.
You have never seen your spouse tossing and turning, worrying day in and day out for "that phone call" because you know it's coming. You just don't know when.
You have never seen your spouse be attentive to his mom's needs, even if it means cleaning up the crap - literally.
There are no easy answers with this disease, this mean disease. What are you to do if your loved one wants to sleep all the time? If the care people tell you that you need your mom to see the doctor to get hospice involved? No, hospice does not mean death is right around the corner, hospice is for support and palliative care. The only way, in this situation, to have hospice involved is by going through the system - that means a doctor's visit and a referral, a home visit by hospice to assess the situation.
Do you think this will be an easy conversation to have with your mom's husband, who really doesn't totally grasp the reality that is happening right in front of his eyes?
This is not an easy conversation to have on any level with anyone.
The reality is death is the end. The reality is death is the ultimate peace. The reality is dementia/Alzheimer's is a slow death and you get to watch it happen, slowly, day by day, piece by piece.
It is enough to make you want to pull your hair out.
Being the family of an Alzheimer's individual - it is very isolative. Where do all your friends go? Do they just not know what to say or what to do? When all they really have to do is say - I am here for you, lean on me if you need to.
And what about family? Those that seem to care, yet they never ask, never.
... unless you have walked this journey of dementia/Alzheimer's you have no idea how ugly this disease is.
You have never seen your loved one pee and poop on themselves and not be able to clean it up.
You have never seen your loved one have absolutely no interest in life, not even a little tiny bit.
You have never seen your loved one not want to eat, beginning to lose weight.
Disappearing right in front of your eyes.
You have never seen your spouse, day in and day out, go make his mom dinner every night, while super exhausted from working all day, because she won't eat otherwise.
You have never seen your spouse be so giving of himself to ensure his mom is safe and well cared for, as best she can be.
You have never seen your spouse tossing and turning, worrying day in and day out for "that phone call" because you know it's coming. You just don't know when.
You have never seen your spouse be attentive to his mom's needs, even if it means cleaning up the crap - literally.
There are no easy answers with this disease, this mean disease. What are you to do if your loved one wants to sleep all the time? If the care people tell you that you need your mom to see the doctor to get hospice involved? No, hospice does not mean death is right around the corner, hospice is for support and palliative care. The only way, in this situation, to have hospice involved is by going through the system - that means a doctor's visit and a referral, a home visit by hospice to assess the situation.
Do you think this will be an easy conversation to have with your mom's husband, who really doesn't totally grasp the reality that is happening right in front of his eyes?
This is not an easy conversation to have on any level with anyone.
The reality is death is the end. The reality is death is the ultimate peace. The reality is dementia/Alzheimer's is a slow death and you get to watch it happen, slowly, day by day, piece by piece.
It is enough to make you want to pull your hair out.
Being the family of an Alzheimer's individual - it is very isolative. Where do all your friends go? Do they just not know what to say or what to do? When all they really have to do is say - I am here for you, lean on me if you need to.
And what about family? Those that seem to care, yet they never ask, never.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
September 23, 2015
Randy had just walked in the door after a day of wakeboarding when the phone rang. I was doing my own thing and all I heard was, "If she's not moving, call 9-1-1." I started shutting things off, closed the window, the things you do on auto-pilot. I then heard, "Hang up the phone and call 9-1-1. I'm on my way." I remember saying, "Let's go."
I'm sure Randy was thinking, as I was, oh geez she's had another stroke.
When we got to his parents' house, I said, "Oh good, he did call them," as the EMTs were already there along with a fire engine.
He could not get the car parked soon enough and I about jumped out of the car before it was completely stopped, not that I knew what to expect or even what to do when we walked in the house.
The EMTs were surrounding Faye (my mom-in-law), assessing her, oxygen mask on. They had sent Les (her husband) to find her Social Security number; I'm pretty sure this was to get him out of the way, keep him busy. (The check-in lady at the hospital didn't even look at it.) Randy went to help him look. I was kind of just standing there, not in the way, but not knowing what to do. I tapped one of the EMTs on the arm, said, "She has dementia." He said, "Yes." Then, this younger EMT says, "Is she acting differently to you? She seems to be acting out." I just said, "Yes, she's acting differently. I'm sure she's scared and having a panic attack." The EMTs wanted to get Faye on the stretcher and she about screamed, "I can't move and it hurts!" When this woman complains of pain, you know she is hurting, she just does not complain about anything.
I went to get Randy as he is the only one who seems to be able to calm his mom down under any circumstances; he is her safety zone. He said, "Mom, look at me. They are going to take you to the hospital."
How much any of this registered with Faye, I do not know. I know she was scared and did not understand what was going on.
You see, Faye has Alzheimer's ...
After a couple hours of waiting in the emergency room, Les finally surfaced from the back. They were thinking Faye had a urinary tract infection. Thank goodness - no stroke!
Randy brought me back home. Went right back to the hospital. Came home a few hours later - Faye ultimately ended up with a really nasty, infected gallbladder full of stones and other crud. She was finally admitted in the wee hours of the morning, September 24. The doctors didn't want to do surgery right away as they wanted to get her infection under control. Finally, they felt it was safe enough to do surgery on the 25th of September. I know this was not an easy decision for Randy (and Les) to make. Dementia and anesthesia do not mix.
The outcome of surgery on an Alzheimer's patients can be the following:
1. Status quo, baseline mental status after all drugs have left the body.
2. Perhaps some clearing of mental status once the infection is gone.
3. Worsening of the dementia.
The Saturday following Faye's surgery, the next day, Randy was at the hospital all day long, ever vigilant. I believe it was the next day, Sunday, when Randy and I were sitting on the bed with her and she just clearly stated that she had not felt good for a long time and "I felt like I was going to die." Just as clear as anything. Randy just gently told her that when she doesn't feel good she needs to tell him. That moment of clarity was gone within 30 seconds.
Faye suffered from hallucinations due to Dilaudid, thinking her water was pink and many, many ramblings. They took her off of Dilaudid.
Hospital delirium with dementia is an ugly, ugly thing.
When we were able to get her home on Tuesday, the 29th, her mental status seemed to clear almost immediately. Before leaving, Randy asked her, "Do you know where you are?" She simply said, "I'm at home." Yes! Score one for our team! We were thrilled.
My post from my Facebook page:
Faye's new care lady is starting today, October 29, after meeting with Faye and Les yesterday. We are doing all we can to keep Faye at home, but we know the realities of this disease. It is ugly. It is mean. It is an unforgiving beast.
You can follow me here: https://www.facebook.com/melissaacraftingforacause/?ref=hl
I'm sure Randy was thinking, as I was, oh geez she's had another stroke.
When we got to his parents' house, I said, "Oh good, he did call them," as the EMTs were already there along with a fire engine.
He could not get the car parked soon enough and I about jumped out of the car before it was completely stopped, not that I knew what to expect or even what to do when we walked in the house.
The EMTs were surrounding Faye (my mom-in-law), assessing her, oxygen mask on. They had sent Les (her husband) to find her Social Security number; I'm pretty sure this was to get him out of the way, keep him busy. (The check-in lady at the hospital didn't even look at it.) Randy went to help him look. I was kind of just standing there, not in the way, but not knowing what to do. I tapped one of the EMTs on the arm, said, "She has dementia." He said, "Yes." Then, this younger EMT says, "Is she acting differently to you? She seems to be acting out." I just said, "Yes, she's acting differently. I'm sure she's scared and having a panic attack." The EMTs wanted to get Faye on the stretcher and she about screamed, "I can't move and it hurts!" When this woman complains of pain, you know she is hurting, she just does not complain about anything.
I went to get Randy as he is the only one who seems to be able to calm his mom down under any circumstances; he is her safety zone. He said, "Mom, look at me. They are going to take you to the hospital."
How much any of this registered with Faye, I do not know. I know she was scared and did not understand what was going on.
You see, Faye has Alzheimer's ...
After a couple hours of waiting in the emergency room, Les finally surfaced from the back. They were thinking Faye had a urinary tract infection. Thank goodness - no stroke!
Randy brought me back home. Went right back to the hospital. Came home a few hours later - Faye ultimately ended up with a really nasty, infected gallbladder full of stones and other crud. She was finally admitted in the wee hours of the morning, September 24. The doctors didn't want to do surgery right away as they wanted to get her infection under control. Finally, they felt it was safe enough to do surgery on the 25th of September. I know this was not an easy decision for Randy (and Les) to make. Dementia and anesthesia do not mix.
The outcome of surgery on an Alzheimer's patients can be the following:
1. Status quo, baseline mental status after all drugs have left the body.
2. Perhaps some clearing of mental status once the infection is gone.
3. Worsening of the dementia.
The Saturday following Faye's surgery, the next day, Randy was at the hospital all day long, ever vigilant. I believe it was the next day, Sunday, when Randy and I were sitting on the bed with her and she just clearly stated that she had not felt good for a long time and "I felt like I was going to die." Just as clear as anything. Randy just gently told her that when she doesn't feel good she needs to tell him. That moment of clarity was gone within 30 seconds.
Faye suffered from hallucinations due to Dilaudid, thinking her water was pink and many, many ramblings. They took her off of Dilaudid.
Hospital delirium with dementia is an ugly, ugly thing.
When we were able to get her home on Tuesday, the 29th, her mental status seemed to clear almost immediately. Before leaving, Randy asked her, "Do you know where you are?" She simply said, "I'm at home." Yes! Score one for our team! We were thrilled.
My post from my Facebook page:
Today, October 26, marks 1 month and 1 day since my mom-in-law had her gallbladder removed, a major surgery for an Alzheimer's patient. While she maintained her baseline in the beginning, she has worsened, unfortunately, in her Alzheimer's. We do not know if it is anesthesia related, the natural progression of her disease, or a combination of the two. Without this surgery, she would not be here today.
These are the changes we have noticed:
1. Sleeping a lot - I mean A LOT. She can go to bed at 5:30 or 6:00 and not wake up until 9 the next morning, dozing through the day.
2. Irritability/anger surfaces much more easily.
3. Her appetite at dinner is almost nonexistent.
4. She is beginning to have trouble swallowing, and admitted so to Randy in the last week or so when he asked her.
5. She is much more easily confused, especially in the evening hours.
6. Serious light sensitivity. We have noticed that Les, her husband, has been keeping the living room lights off for her. He is learning as we are.
7. Lack of interest - no interest whatsoever in walking the dog.
These are the changes we have noticed:
1. Sleeping a lot - I mean A LOT. She can go to bed at 5:30 or 6:00 and not wake up until 9 the next morning, dozing through the day.
2. Irritability/anger surfaces much more easily.
3. Her appetite at dinner is almost nonexistent.
4. She is beginning to have trouble swallowing, and admitted so to Randy in the last week or so when he asked her.
5. She is much more easily confused, especially in the evening hours.
6. Serious light sensitivity. We have noticed that Les, her husband, has been keeping the living room lights off for her. He is learning as we are.
7. Lack of interest - no interest whatsoever in walking the dog.
I know it may sound a bit odd to hear of a dementia/Alzheimer's individual with a lack of interest, but it really does happen. When asked if she wants to take a walk with the dog, she does not want to go and she used to always walk the dog!
Randy was able to get her showered and out and about yesterday, the 25th, she tires so much quicker now. Randy and I also went to meet a new in-home care lady yesterday, as the first one was not the right fit. Yes, we will be faced with some extremely tough decisions in the future, but for the moment my mom-in-law is safe, as happy as she can be, and as healthy as she can be at home. No, not a "pity party" just the reality of Alzheimer's.
Randy was able to get her showered and out and about yesterday, the 25th, she tires so much quicker now. Randy and I also went to meet a new in-home care lady yesterday, as the first one was not the right fit. Yes, we will be faced with some extremely tough decisions in the future, but for the moment my mom-in-law is safe, as happy as she can be, and as healthy as she can be at home. No, not a "pity party" just the reality of Alzheimer's.
Faye's new care lady is starting today, October 29, after meeting with Faye and Les yesterday. We are doing all we can to keep Faye at home, but we know the realities of this disease. It is ugly. It is mean. It is an unforgiving beast.
You can follow me here: https://www.facebook.com/melissaacraftingforacause/?ref=hl
Sunday, September 20, 2015
"The View" vs Ms. Colorado
September 20, 2015
By now, most of the world has heard what happened on "The View" last Monday, September 14, 2015. We have all seen the well-deserved backlash and the sponsors abandoning them.
No, I am not a nurse, but I do work in the medical realm as a medical transcriptionist.
Ms. Colorado, Kelley Johnson, I commend you a thousand times over for what you did. You stepped out of the norm for the talent portion of Miss America. You told a real story. You told Joe's story, your story. You are a brave lady!
While most people have been ragging on the ladies (and I use that term loosely) for being so insulting to nurses and Ms. Johnson wearing her "costume" of scrubs and a "doctor's stethoscope," I have run across only ONE person who has even remotely touched upon the subject of her speech.
And where is this supposed apology? I'm still waiting. If it ever surfaces, I am sure it will not be sincere.
I may not be the most eloquent of writers, but Alzheimer's/dementia is near and dear to my heart. I run a Facebook page hoping to "put a face" to this dreaded disease in 2015. Those of you who know me personally know that my mother-in-law struggles with this disease and that my second mom passed away this year from this dreaded disease. My late pen-pal's wife had to be placed in a care facility because she was so dangerous to herself and others. Sadly, I do not know if she is still with us or not and have been unable to find out.
Do you realize that dementia is the 6th leading cause of death? Does this not scare you? Did you know that you can get this disease in your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, and the younger you are the quicker you die?
Do you know what it's like to have your mother-in-law see you once or twice a week and not know you? Have you ever heard your loved one ask - "How long have I known you?" Or what it's like when your loved one is looking at a picture of their spouse (having been married for 40 some odd years) and asks - "Who is that?"
Do you know what it's like to have to make the decision of placing your loved one in a care facility and watch him/her just sit there in a chair? There, but not really there. What it's like to watch your loved one lose all ability to walk, talk, drink, or even eat, let alone know who you are at any given moment?
Do you know how exhausting it is for a dementia individual to just get up every day? Can you imagine what it's like having to try and keep up with a conversation that includes more than 2 people? Or even just trying to figure out how to get dressed?
And let's not forget about the caregivers! Do you know how exhausting that task is? What a challenge it is every moment of every day, not knowing what your loved one will do next?
Have you paid attention to Glen Campbell's story at all? Kim is quickly becoming one of my heroes. She has been married to him for 30+ years now. She did have Mr. Campbell in a care facility, but he is back home now. I cannot even imagine her struggles in dealing with this disease as Mr. Campbell has physical outbursts. He does not know about any of this. The sad, sad truth is that his family does and they have to watch him slowly die. And, yet, she stands by him.
Let's not forget the Reagans! Nancy will forever and always be one of my heroes! She stuck by him to the very end.
If you have not ever encountered this disease, you have no clue. And, I suspect that the ladies of "The View" are pretty clueless. If they weren't, they wouldn't have poo-pooed this disease. They just passed over it with a "not that that's not important" statement.
Now, ladies (again used loosely), of "The View," had you taken 2 minutes to find out what Kelley was all about and what she was doing, you would have had THE PERFECT platform to bring light to an extremely dreadful disease - that of Alzheimer's (oh, and let me educate you - Alzheimer's is NOT the same as dementia). Instead of coming across as ignorant, you could have brought light to a disease that needs to be talked about, one that needs more awareness, more research. One that needs a cure. You could have been having your praises sung.
Oh, and Ms. Goldberg, for you to sit there any say "listen to us ..." Why did YOU not LISTEN to Kelley?
You can find me here: https://www.facebook.com/melissaacraftingforacause
By now, most of the world has heard what happened on "The View" last Monday, September 14, 2015. We have all seen the well-deserved backlash and the sponsors abandoning them.
No, I am not a nurse, but I do work in the medical realm as a medical transcriptionist.
Ms. Colorado, Kelley Johnson, I commend you a thousand times over for what you did. You stepped out of the norm for the talent portion of Miss America. You told a real story. You told Joe's story, your story. You are a brave lady!
While most people have been ragging on the ladies (and I use that term loosely) for being so insulting to nurses and Ms. Johnson wearing her "costume" of scrubs and a "doctor's stethoscope," I have run across only ONE person who has even remotely touched upon the subject of her speech.
And where is this supposed apology? I'm still waiting. If it ever surfaces, I am sure it will not be sincere.
I may not be the most eloquent of writers, but Alzheimer's/dementia is near and dear to my heart. I run a Facebook page hoping to "put a face" to this dreaded disease in 2015. Those of you who know me personally know that my mother-in-law struggles with this disease and that my second mom passed away this year from this dreaded disease. My late pen-pal's wife had to be placed in a care facility because she was so dangerous to herself and others. Sadly, I do not know if she is still with us or not and have been unable to find out.
Do you realize that dementia is the 6th leading cause of death? Does this not scare you? Did you know that you can get this disease in your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, and the younger you are the quicker you die?
Do you know what it's like to have your mother-in-law see you once or twice a week and not know you? Have you ever heard your loved one ask - "How long have I known you?" Or what it's like when your loved one is looking at a picture of their spouse (having been married for 40 some odd years) and asks - "Who is that?"
Do you know what it's like to have to make the decision of placing your loved one in a care facility and watch him/her just sit there in a chair? There, but not really there. What it's like to watch your loved one lose all ability to walk, talk, drink, or even eat, let alone know who you are at any given moment?
Do you know how exhausting it is for a dementia individual to just get up every day? Can you imagine what it's like having to try and keep up with a conversation that includes more than 2 people? Or even just trying to figure out how to get dressed?
And let's not forget about the caregivers! Do you know how exhausting that task is? What a challenge it is every moment of every day, not knowing what your loved one will do next?
Have you paid attention to Glen Campbell's story at all? Kim is quickly becoming one of my heroes. She has been married to him for 30+ years now. She did have Mr. Campbell in a care facility, but he is back home now. I cannot even imagine her struggles in dealing with this disease as Mr. Campbell has physical outbursts. He does not know about any of this. The sad, sad truth is that his family does and they have to watch him slowly die. And, yet, she stands by him.
Let's not forget the Reagans! Nancy will forever and always be one of my heroes! She stuck by him to the very end.
If you have not ever encountered this disease, you have no clue. And, I suspect that the ladies of "The View" are pretty clueless. If they weren't, they wouldn't have poo-pooed this disease. They just passed over it with a "not that that's not important" statement.
Now, ladies (again used loosely), of "The View," had you taken 2 minutes to find out what Kelley was all about and what she was doing, you would have had THE PERFECT platform to bring light to an extremely dreadful disease - that of Alzheimer's (oh, and let me educate you - Alzheimer's is NOT the same as dementia). Instead of coming across as ignorant, you could have brought light to a disease that needs to be talked about, one that needs more awareness, more research. One that needs a cure. You could have been having your praises sung.
Oh, and Ms. Goldberg, for you to sit there any say "listen to us ..." Why did YOU not LISTEN to Kelley?
You can find me here: https://www.facebook.com/melissaacraftingforacause
Friday, April 24, 2015
My Story of Anne
This is the story of how I met one of the ladies who is the inspiration behind my Facebook page. I don't have a picture of her, but this quote sums up this story. It has been on my mind the last few days. I share it here with you today.
Way back in the 6th grade, the early 1970s or so, we had an exchange teacher as opposed to an exchange student. Christopher Bodenham was his name. He w...as supposed to teach us for a year. It took some getting used to, at the time, but I think we were making progress. Sadly, about a month into his teaching us here in the States he had a tragic and fatal accident. I don’t know who contacted his family back in England, but I do remember waiting out in the hallway that day wondering where he was. All of a sudden Mr. Anthony, our principal, showed up to let us in the classroom. We were all wondering what happened. I believe after we all settled in the classroom, he told us that we would be getting a substitute teacher. I don’t think he told us why that morning. Ms. Simmons just suddenly appeared somehow later that day. I believe it was at the end of that day that we were told Mr. Bodenham had passed on. I don’t think we were told the hows or the whys, just that it was. I remember we all had to sit down and write condolence letters to his family. I remember going to his memorial service and my mom telling me not to cry ... why I remember that is beyond me! I remember thinking his father’s name was David. He finally corrected us and told us his name was Denis. Yes, he was a doctor, a surgeon no less, and he became my mentor in life.
It all started with that condolence letter to him when I was in the 6th grade. He wrote back to our entire class thanking us for writing to him. I wrote back to him saying you’re welcome ... and on it went. For years we wrote to each other. I believe it lasted for a good 15 years!
Denis and his wife, Anne, came to the United States way back in 1980 or 1981. Boy, talk about one excited kid - me! I was finally going to meet the man I’d been writing to. I remember my mom set up an open house. I vaguely remember being sort of embarrassed for my classmates to be in our house, you know how kids are. I don’t think they picked on me though for my mom having an open house. I remember promising Denis and Anne that I would visit them after I graduated from high school in 1985. So, instead of a college education I went to England in 1985. I stayed there for 6 weeks. I was 17. I was sort of lost in this vast land of England, not knowing anyone except my host and hostess. I made a lousy house guest for sure. Looking back, I cherish the moments I was able to spend with Denis. He passed away in the early 1990s. I miss him to this very day. My most cherished item is a water color he painted of the church in his neighborhood. I have that and his picture hanging in my home office.
Anne, bless her ... I was never really connected to her in any way. It was Denis I was connected to. I can’t even explain that really. When I would write to them, I would say Denis and Anne, but really ... there just was no connection with her, I didn’t think. I don’t know ... maybe it was because Denis was the one who did the writing? Anyway, Anne was the one who wrote me a letter way back in the early 1990s telling me of Denis’ passing. That was a hard day.
Bless Anne, though ... after Denis’ passing we tried to remain in contact. It just was not the same. I had no clue what to write. I would tell myself to write to her like I would write to Denis, it just was not the same. Anyway, it got down to a Christmas card kind of relationship. Oh sure, we’d send an occasional note, with the promise of doing better. I was so excited to hear from her that she had email - we thought maybe that would be easier. Then, she was set up on Instant Messenger. None of it helped. I would look forward every year to her sending me my annual calendar. Yes, I knew it would be a cat calendar, but all the same it would arrive every year. It became our unspoken tradition ... and I, in turn, would send a box of ornaments for her to distribute every year ... every year without fail.
I guess it was about 4 years or so ago when no calendar arrived. I was like, hmmmm, maybe she simply forgot or maybe it would be late. No calendar. Another year went by, no calendar. It was not until just this past year I found out the reason.
Anne has Alzheimer’s. Anne has Alzheimer’s so badly that she had to be put in a home as she is a danger to herself and others. As of the time of this writing, March 10, 2015, I do not know if Anne is still here. I am making the presumption that she is as I have not been told otherwise and I do not find anything on Google, not that that means anything. I asked the person I am in contact with in England if she happened to have Anne’s address where she is at. I was informed that “she will not remember you. I’m sorry, but she won’t.” This hurts me to the very core of my being. Why? Because how does anybody really know this? How does anybody really know what an Alzheimer’s patient will remember and what he/she won’t remember? I just simply wanted to send her a card.
This is my story of Anne. I cherish these two people, Denis and Anne, deeply and I will never forget them. I cherish Anne for trying to continue to maintain a relationship that lasted for many, many years and one that I will forever miss.
Anne is one of the ladies who inspire my Facebook page. I honor her in my efforts to raise awareness, to hopefully help make the “stigma” of being a person with dementia diminish. There is no shame in having Alzheimer’s or dementia of any form, no shame.
It all started with that condolence letter to him when I was in the 6th grade. He wrote back to our entire class thanking us for writing to him. I wrote back to him saying you’re welcome ... and on it went. For years we wrote to each other. I believe it lasted for a good 15 years!
Denis and his wife, Anne, came to the United States way back in 1980 or 1981. Boy, talk about one excited kid - me! I was finally going to meet the man I’d been writing to. I remember my mom set up an open house. I vaguely remember being sort of embarrassed for my classmates to be in our house, you know how kids are. I don’t think they picked on me though for my mom having an open house. I remember promising Denis and Anne that I would visit them after I graduated from high school in 1985. So, instead of a college education I went to England in 1985. I stayed there for 6 weeks. I was 17. I was sort of lost in this vast land of England, not knowing anyone except my host and hostess. I made a lousy house guest for sure. Looking back, I cherish the moments I was able to spend with Denis. He passed away in the early 1990s. I miss him to this very day. My most cherished item is a water color he painted of the church in his neighborhood. I have that and his picture hanging in my home office.
Anne, bless her ... I was never really connected to her in any way. It was Denis I was connected to. I can’t even explain that really. When I would write to them, I would say Denis and Anne, but really ... there just was no connection with her, I didn’t think. I don’t know ... maybe it was because Denis was the one who did the writing? Anyway, Anne was the one who wrote me a letter way back in the early 1990s telling me of Denis’ passing. That was a hard day.
Bless Anne, though ... after Denis’ passing we tried to remain in contact. It just was not the same. I had no clue what to write. I would tell myself to write to her like I would write to Denis, it just was not the same. Anyway, it got down to a Christmas card kind of relationship. Oh sure, we’d send an occasional note, with the promise of doing better. I was so excited to hear from her that she had email - we thought maybe that would be easier. Then, she was set up on Instant Messenger. None of it helped. I would look forward every year to her sending me my annual calendar. Yes, I knew it would be a cat calendar, but all the same it would arrive every year. It became our unspoken tradition ... and I, in turn, would send a box of ornaments for her to distribute every year ... every year without fail.
I guess it was about 4 years or so ago when no calendar arrived. I was like, hmmmm, maybe she simply forgot or maybe it would be late. No calendar. Another year went by, no calendar. It was not until just this past year I found out the reason.
Anne has Alzheimer’s. Anne has Alzheimer’s so badly that she had to be put in a home as she is a danger to herself and others. As of the time of this writing, March 10, 2015, I do not know if Anne is still here. I am making the presumption that she is as I have not been told otherwise and I do not find anything on Google, not that that means anything. I asked the person I am in contact with in England if she happened to have Anne’s address where she is at. I was informed that “she will not remember you. I’m sorry, but she won’t.” This hurts me to the very core of my being. Why? Because how does anybody really know this? How does anybody really know what an Alzheimer’s patient will remember and what he/she won’t remember? I just simply wanted to send her a card.
This is my story of Anne. I cherish these two people, Denis and Anne, deeply and I will never forget them. I cherish Anne for trying to continue to maintain a relationship that lasted for many, many years and one that I will forever miss.
Anne is one of the ladies who inspire my Facebook page. I honor her in my efforts to raise awareness, to hopefully help make the “stigma” of being a person with dementia diminish. There is no shame in having Alzheimer’s or dementia of any form, no shame.
You can follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaacraftingforacause
Friday, April 17, 2015
Lewy Body Dementia
Read the second sentence - 1.4 million individuals - that is frightening!
What is LBD?
LBD is not a rare disease. It affects an estimated 1.4 million individuals and their families in the United States. Because LBD symptoms can closely resemble other more commonly known diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, it is currently widely underdiagnosed. Many doctors or other medical professionals still are not familiar with LBD.
LBD is an umbrella term for two related diagnoses. LBD refers to both Parkinson’s disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. The earliest symptoms of these two diseases differ, but reflect the same underlying biological changes in the brain. Over time, people with both diagnoses will develop very similar cognitive, physical, sleep, and behavioral symptoms.
While it may take more than a year or two for enough symptoms to develop for a doctor to diagnose LBD, it is critical to pursue a formal diagnosis. Early diagnosis allows for important early treatment that may extend quality of life and independence.
LBD is a multisystem disease and typically requires a comprehensive treatment approach. This approach involves a team of physicians from different specialties who collaborate to provide optimum treatment of each symptom without worsening other LBD symptoms. Many people with LBD enjoy significant improvement of their symptoms with a comprehensive approach to treatment, and some can have remarkably little change from year to year.
Some people with LBD are extremely sensitive or may react negatively to certain medications used to treat Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s in addition to certain over-the-counter medications.
WHO WAS LEWY?
In the early 1900s, while researching Parkinson's disease, the scientist Friederich H. Lewy discovered abnormal protein deposits that disrupt the brain's normal functioning. These Lewy body proteins are found in an area of the brain stem where they deplete the neurotransmitter dopamine, causing Parkinsonian symptoms. In Lewy body dementia, these abnormal proteins are diffuse throughout other areas of the brain, including the cerebral cortex. The brain chemical acetylcholine is depleted, causing disruption of perception, thinking and behavior. Lewy body dementia exists either in pure form, or in conjunction with other brain changes, including those typically seen in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
To learn more about Lewy Body dementia - http://www.lbda.org/category/3437/what-is-lbd.htm
Friday, April 10, 2015
Rita Hayworth
Did you know Rita Hayworth suffered with Alzheimer's that went incorrectly diagnosed for a very long time?
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/20/health/he-myturn20
Today, someone suffering from forgetfulness is immediately assumed to have Alzheimer's disease. But it was only a few decades ago that famed actress Rita Hayworth's Alzheimer's was persistently misdiagnosed.
One of World War II's most popular pin-up girls, Hayworth began having trouble remembering her lines during the 1960s, while in her 40s. She drank heavily at times, and her fellow actors largely suspected alcohol as the cause. So did her doctors.
In the 1970s, as Hayworth's mental status worsened, she experienced several distressing public spectacles. The worst was in 1976, when she became agitated on a plane trip to London, and photos of the disheveled actress were broadcast worldwide.
Although the original patient diagnosed with what came to be known as Alzheimer's disease was a woman in her 40s, just like Hayworth, physicians had largely forgotten the disease between the discovery of the disease by German physician Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and the 1970s.
There were other blinders in Hayworth's case. Her colleagues and friends engaged in extensive denial, continuing to book her for appearances and take her to parties. And like many Alzheimer's patients, Hayworth, despite increasing confusion and memory loss, remarkably rose to the challenge on occasion. She somehow successfully played the role of a gun-slinging mother in the 1972 film "The Wrath of God."
The actress avoided doctors, who always lectured her about drinking. But finally, in 1979, New York psychiatrist Ronald Fieve made a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, a dementia caused by plaques and tangles in the brain. Two years later, the diagnosis was made public.
By this time, doctors had realized that memory loss in the elderly -- which was much more commonplace than in the young -- was also often due to Alzheimer's.
Hayworth, who died at age 68 in 1987, would become the first public face of Alzheimer's, helping to ensure that future patients did not go undiagnosed. Today, thanks in large part to Hayworth and Ronald Reagan, who went public with his diagnosis in 1994, federal funding for Alzheimer's research has dramatically increased from $146 million in 1990 to more than $650 million.
Unbeknownst to her, Hayworth helped to destigmatize a condition that can still embarrass victims and their families.
"It's upsetting that we all thought that she was drinking and we attributed all of her behavior to her being an alcoholic," Hayworth's nephew, Richard Cansino, recalled after her death. "I feel guilty I perceived it that way."
Barron H. Lerner, a historian and physician at Columbia University Medical Center, is the author of "When Illness Goes Public: Celebrity Patients and How We Look at Medicine" (Johns Hopkins, 2006).
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/20/health/he-myturn20
Today, someone suffering from forgetfulness is immediately assumed to have Alzheimer's disease. But it was only a few decades ago that famed actress Rita Hayworth's Alzheimer's was persistently misdiagnosed.
One of World War II's most popular pin-up girls, Hayworth began having trouble remembering her lines during the 1960s, while in her 40s. She drank heavily at times, and her fellow actors largely suspected alcohol as the cause. So did her doctors.
In the 1970s, as Hayworth's mental status worsened, she experienced several distressing public spectacles. The worst was in 1976, when she became agitated on a plane trip to London, and photos of the disheveled actress were broadcast worldwide.
Although the original patient diagnosed with what came to be known as Alzheimer's disease was a woman in her 40s, just like Hayworth, physicians had largely forgotten the disease between the discovery of the disease by German physician Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and the 1970s.
There were other blinders in Hayworth's case. Her colleagues and friends engaged in extensive denial, continuing to book her for appearances and take her to parties. And like many Alzheimer's patients, Hayworth, despite increasing confusion and memory loss, remarkably rose to the challenge on occasion. She somehow successfully played the role of a gun-slinging mother in the 1972 film "The Wrath of God."
The actress avoided doctors, who always lectured her about drinking. But finally, in 1979, New York psychiatrist Ronald Fieve made a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, a dementia caused by plaques and tangles in the brain. Two years later, the diagnosis was made public.
By this time, doctors had realized that memory loss in the elderly -- which was much more commonplace than in the young -- was also often due to Alzheimer's.
Hayworth, who died at age 68 in 1987, would become the first public face of Alzheimer's, helping to ensure that future patients did not go undiagnosed. Today, thanks in large part to Hayworth and Ronald Reagan, who went public with his diagnosis in 1994, federal funding for Alzheimer's research has dramatically increased from $146 million in 1990 to more than $650 million.
Unbeknownst to her, Hayworth helped to destigmatize a condition that can still embarrass victims and their families.
"It's upsetting that we all thought that she was drinking and we attributed all of her behavior to her being an alcoholic," Hayworth's nephew, Richard Cansino, recalled after her death. "I feel guilty I perceived it that way."
Barron H. Lerner, a historian and physician at Columbia University Medical Center, is the author of "When Illness Goes Public: Celebrity Patients and How We Look at Medicine" (Johns Hopkins, 2006).
Friday, April 3, 2015
Five Stages of Grief
The 5 stages of grief as per grief.com ... we all grieve in different ways and in our own time. Never let anyone tell you to "cheer up" or "it'll get better." We all know it takes time to heal our wounds and, even with the passage of time, our grief can run very deep. We grieve over different things, such as divorce, loss of a job, maybe even a friend moving away, and more importantly death (the toughest part of life whether it be a loved one or a beloved pet). Take your time, your wounds will heal and scab over. Never be afraid to cry, scream, yell, rant, rave, pace the room, take a nice long jog, whatever it takes ... don't be afraid to experience the emotions no matter what anyone tells you.
1. Denial. This first stage of grieving helps us to survive the loss. In this stage, the world becomes meaningless and overwhelming. Life makes no sense. We are in a state of shock and denial. We go numb. We wonder how we can go on, if we can go on, why we should go on. We try to find a way to simply get through each day. Denial and shock help us to cope and make survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. It is nature’s way of letting in only as much as we can handle. As you accept the reality of the loss and start to ask yourself questions, you are unknowingly beginning the healing process. You are becoming stronger, and the denial is beginning to fade. But as you proceed, all the feelings you were denying begin to surface.
2. Anger. Anger is a necessary stage of the healing process. Be willing to feel your anger, even though it may seem endless. The more you truly feel it, the more it will begin to dissipate and the more you will heal. There are many other emotions under the anger and you will get to them in time, but anger is the emotion we are most used to managing. The truth is that anger has no limits. It can extend not only to your friends, the doctors, your family, yourself and your loved one who died, but also to God. You may ask, “Where is God in this? Underneath anger is pain, your pain. It is natural to feel deserted and abandoned, but we live in a society that fears anger. Anger is strength and it can be an anchor, giving temporary structure to the nothingness of loss. At first grief feels like being lost at sea: no connection to anything. Then you get angry at someone, maybe a person who didn’t attend the funeral, maybe a person who isn’t around, maybe a person who is different now that your loved one has died. Suddenly you have a structure – – your anger toward them. The anger becomes a bridge over the open sea, a connection from you to them. It is something to hold onto; and a connection made from the strength of anger feels better than nothing. We usually know more about suppressing anger than feeling it. The anger is just another indication of the intensity of your love.
3. Bargaining. Before a loss, it seems like you will do anything if only your loved one would be spared. “Please God, ” you bargain, “I will never be angry at my wife again if you’ll just let her live.” After a loss, bargaining may take the form of a temporary truce. “What if I devote the rest of my life to helping others. Then can I wake up and realize this has all been a bad dream?” We become lost in a maze of “If only…” or “What if…” statements. We want life returned to what is was; we want our loved one restored. We want to go back in time: find the tumor sooner, recognize the illness more quickly, stop the accident from happening…if only, if only, if only. Guilt is often bargaining’s companion. The “if onlys” cause us to find fault in ourselves and what we “think” we could have done differently. We may even bargain with the pain. We will do anything not to feel the pain of this loss. We remain in the past, trying to negotiate our way out of the hurt. People often think of the stages as lasting weeks or months. They forget that the stages are responses to feelings that can last for minutes or hours as we flip in and out of one and then another. We do not enter and leave each individual stage in a linear fashion. We may feel one, then another and back again to the first one.
4. Depression. After bargaining, our attention moves squarely into the present. Empty feelings present themselves, and grief enters our lives on a deeper level, deeper than we ever imagined. This depressive stage feels as though it will last forever. It’s important to understand that this depression is not a sign of mental illness. It is the appropriate response to a great loss. We withdraw from life, left in a fog of intense sadness, wondering, perhaps, if there is any point in going on alone? Why go on at all? Depression after a loss is too often seen as unnatural: a state to be fixed, something to snap out of. The first question to ask yourself is whether or not the situation you’re in is actually depressing. The loss of a loved one is a very depressing situation, and depression is a normal and appropriate response. To not experience depression after a loved one dies would be unusual. When a loss fully settles in your soul, the realization that your loved one didn’t get better this time and is not coming back is understandably depressing. If grief is a process of healing, then depression is one of the many necessary steps along the way.
5. Acceptance. Acceptance is often confused with the notion of being “all right” or “OK” with what has happened. This is not the case. Most people don’t ever feel OK or all right about the loss of a loved one. This stage is about accepting the reality that our loved one is physically gone and recognizing that this new reality is the permanent reality. We will never like this reality or make it OK, but eventually we accept it. We learn to live with it. It is the new norm with which we must learn to live. We must try to live now in a world where our loved one is missing. In resisting this new norm, at first many people want to maintain life as it was before a loved one died. In time, through bits and pieces of acceptance, however, we see that we cannot maintain the past intact. It has been forever changed and we must readjust. We must learn to reorganize roles, re-assign them to others or take them on ourselves. Finding acceptance may be just having more good days than bad ones. As we begin to live again and enjoy our life, we often feel that in doing so, we are betraying our loved one. We can never replace what has been lost, but we can make new connections, new meaningful relationships, new inter-dependencies. Instead of denying our feelings, we listen to our needs; we move, we change, we grow, we evolve. We may start to reach out to others and become involved in their lives. We invest in our friendships and in our relationship with ourselves. We begin to live again, but we cannot do so until we have given grief its time.
Take your time, feel your emotions. Never let anyone tell you "it's not okay" to cry because it is ... even years later when the loss feels like it happened just yesterday.
1. Denial. This first stage of grieving helps us to survive the loss. In this stage, the world becomes meaningless and overwhelming. Life makes no sense. We are in a state of shock and denial. We go numb. We wonder how we can go on, if we can go on, why we should go on. We try to find a way to simply get through each day. Denial and shock help us to cope and make survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. It is nature’s way of letting in only as much as we can handle. As you accept the reality of the loss and start to ask yourself questions, you are unknowingly beginning the healing process. You are becoming stronger, and the denial is beginning to fade. But as you proceed, all the feelings you were denying begin to surface.
2. Anger. Anger is a necessary stage of the healing process. Be willing to feel your anger, even though it may seem endless. The more you truly feel it, the more it will begin to dissipate and the more you will heal. There are many other emotions under the anger and you will get to them in time, but anger is the emotion we are most used to managing. The truth is that anger has no limits. It can extend not only to your friends, the doctors, your family, yourself and your loved one who died, but also to God. You may ask, “Where is God in this? Underneath anger is pain, your pain. It is natural to feel deserted and abandoned, but we live in a society that fears anger. Anger is strength and it can be an anchor, giving temporary structure to the nothingness of loss. At first grief feels like being lost at sea: no connection to anything. Then you get angry at someone, maybe a person who didn’t attend the funeral, maybe a person who isn’t around, maybe a person who is different now that your loved one has died. Suddenly you have a structure – – your anger toward them. The anger becomes a bridge over the open sea, a connection from you to them. It is something to hold onto; and a connection made from the strength of anger feels better than nothing. We usually know more about suppressing anger than feeling it. The anger is just another indication of the intensity of your love.
3. Bargaining. Before a loss, it seems like you will do anything if only your loved one would be spared. “Please God, ” you bargain, “I will never be angry at my wife again if you’ll just let her live.” After a loss, bargaining may take the form of a temporary truce. “What if I devote the rest of my life to helping others. Then can I wake up and realize this has all been a bad dream?” We become lost in a maze of “If only…” or “What if…” statements. We want life returned to what is was; we want our loved one restored. We want to go back in time: find the tumor sooner, recognize the illness more quickly, stop the accident from happening…if only, if only, if only. Guilt is often bargaining’s companion. The “if onlys” cause us to find fault in ourselves and what we “think” we could have done differently. We may even bargain with the pain. We will do anything not to feel the pain of this loss. We remain in the past, trying to negotiate our way out of the hurt. People often think of the stages as lasting weeks or months. They forget that the stages are responses to feelings that can last for minutes or hours as we flip in and out of one and then another. We do not enter and leave each individual stage in a linear fashion. We may feel one, then another and back again to the first one.
4. Depression. After bargaining, our attention moves squarely into the present. Empty feelings present themselves, and grief enters our lives on a deeper level, deeper than we ever imagined. This depressive stage feels as though it will last forever. It’s important to understand that this depression is not a sign of mental illness. It is the appropriate response to a great loss. We withdraw from life, left in a fog of intense sadness, wondering, perhaps, if there is any point in going on alone? Why go on at all? Depression after a loss is too often seen as unnatural: a state to be fixed, something to snap out of. The first question to ask yourself is whether or not the situation you’re in is actually depressing. The loss of a loved one is a very depressing situation, and depression is a normal and appropriate response. To not experience depression after a loved one dies would be unusual. When a loss fully settles in your soul, the realization that your loved one didn’t get better this time and is not coming back is understandably depressing. If grief is a process of healing, then depression is one of the many necessary steps along the way.
5. Acceptance. Acceptance is often confused with the notion of being “all right” or “OK” with what has happened. This is not the case. Most people don’t ever feel OK or all right about the loss of a loved one. This stage is about accepting the reality that our loved one is physically gone and recognizing that this new reality is the permanent reality. We will never like this reality or make it OK, but eventually we accept it. We learn to live with it. It is the new norm with which we must learn to live. We must try to live now in a world where our loved one is missing. In resisting this new norm, at first many people want to maintain life as it was before a loved one died. In time, through bits and pieces of acceptance, however, we see that we cannot maintain the past intact. It has been forever changed and we must readjust. We must learn to reorganize roles, re-assign them to others or take them on ourselves. Finding acceptance may be just having more good days than bad ones. As we begin to live again and enjoy our life, we often feel that in doing so, we are betraying our loved one. We can never replace what has been lost, but we can make new connections, new meaningful relationships, new inter-dependencies. Instead of denying our feelings, we listen to our needs; we move, we change, we grow, we evolve. We may start to reach out to others and become involved in their lives. We invest in our friendships and in our relationship with ourselves. We begin to live again, but we cannot do so until we have given grief its time.
Take your time, feel your emotions. Never let anyone tell you "it's not okay" to cry because it is ... even years later when the loss feels like it happened just yesterday.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Medications Linked to Alzheimer's
As I was scrolling through Facebook, I stumbled upon this article related to something else entirely. It was about police walking away from a situation that involved a mentally ill individual. You know how off to the side they have those "related articles," I saw one that mentioned medications leading to Alzheimer's disease and decided to read it. It is frightening!
As per Google when I went to search for the article again.
"Older people who have relied on a class of drugs called benzodiazepines to reduce anxiety or induce sleep are at higher risk of going on to develop Alzheimer's disease, new research finds, with those whose use of the medications is most intensive almost twice as likely to develop the mind-robbing disorder."
Alzheimer's and/or dementia is bad enough, but why are we "poisoning" our population with drugs that could potentially cause dementia or worsening of this horrid disease?
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-sn-anxiety-drug-alzheimers-20140909-story.html
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/27/sleeping-drugs-increased-risk-alzheimers
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/benzodiazepine-use-may-raise-risk-alzheimers-disease-201409107397
If you are dealing with someone with dementia, I highly encourage you to talk to his/her doctor about the medications he/she is taking and, if at all possible, remove the medication from his/her regimen. Sometimes the risks far outweigh any benefits one might experience.
As per Google when I went to search for the article again.
"Older people who have relied on a class of drugs called benzodiazepines to reduce anxiety or induce sleep are at higher risk of going on to develop Alzheimer's disease, new research finds, with those whose use of the medications is most intensive almost twice as likely to develop the mind-robbing disorder."
Alzheimer's and/or dementia is bad enough, but why are we "poisoning" our population with drugs that could potentially cause dementia or worsening of this horrid disease?
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-sn-anxiety-drug-alzheimers-20140909-story.html
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/27/sleeping-drugs-increased-risk-alzheimers
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/benzodiazepine-use-may-raise-risk-alzheimers-disease-201409107397
If you are dealing with someone with dementia, I highly encourage you to talk to his/her doctor about the medications he/she is taking and, if at all possible, remove the medication from his/her regimen. Sometimes the risks far outweigh any benefits one might experience.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Tony Abbott Cuts Funding for Caregivers
This is another frightening blow for Alzheimer's caregivers. Yes, I realize Tony Abbott is out of Australia, but Alzheimer's is Alzheimer's no matter the country. It is a horrid, mean, nasty disease and to take money away from caregivers is unfair.
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/the-blocks-shaynna-blaze-attacks-pm-tony-abbott-over-budget-cuts-to-health-program/story-fn907478-1227012670477
A couple of excerpts from the above referenced article - "An estimated 332,000 Australians live with dementia but the country’s rapidly ageing population means that figure is expected to jump by one-third to 400,000 in the next decade.
"Experts say without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia will reach 900,000 by 2050."
These statistics are frightening.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Glen Campbell and Alzheimer's
I don't know if any of you are country music fans or if you know who Glen Campbell is. He has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I just found this fascinating article about his disease, written by his wife. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/10/24/faith-alzheimer-and-my-husband-glen-campbell/
You see, Alzheimer's does not discriminate. It does not care if you are famous. It does not care if you are a singer, a writer, a politician, or just an "every day" person. It does not care. Alzheimer's is mean.
Mr. Campbell also did a farewell tour when he knew what was happening to him. That is sad, don't you think? When the person knows something is wrong? Click on the link above and it will take you directly to the Fox News article. He wrote one final song "before Alzheimer's took him away."
Here is the article as written by his wife, Kim Campbell, who I suspect will become another of my heroes.
My husband, Glen Campbell, has stage 6 Alzheimer’s disease. Seven months ago, at the recommendation of his doctors, we placed him in a memory care facility close to our home in Nashville.
It’s a community that’s designed specifically for the needs of those who have Alzheimer’s and dementia. They have all kinds of therapies and activities that stimulate parts of the brain affected by the illness. It’s a safe and secure environment where he receives around-the-clock care.
It’s been good for him. He just seems more at peace there than he was at home, where he became increasingly agitated and frantic.
He lives in a mental fog most of the time. He’s lost most of his language skills and has a hard time communicating. He still has moments of lucidity, though, and those moments let us know he’s still in there and that he’s the Glen we’ve always known. He can make short sentences and say things like “I love you” and “We are so blessed.”
The aides and nurses say he must have been a godly man because they always see him thanking the Lord. I’ve seen him walk over to the window and lift up his hands and say, “Thank you, heavenly Father.”
Those moments are so comforting because when you’re facing your mortality, that’s when you want to know God is there. That’s when you really want to draw close to Him.
When I see him do that, I know God is with him, and he’s aware of His presence. He’s relying on the Lord and gets his strength from Him.
People should not give up on others who have dementia. The essence of who they are is still alive and still in there.
He’s still the Glen Campbell he’s always been. He’s always especially loved children and old people. There’s this little lady in a wheelchair in the facility, and she can’t speak at all. He will walk over to her and take her little hand in his and say, “You are so precious.”
He’ll kiss her on the forehead, and she’ll just look up at him. She has no idea who he is, but you can tell it comforts her.
Even in his affliction, he’s ministering to people and trying to be a blessing.
In between those moments, he’s lost. He wanders. He can’t communicate. He doesn’t understand what others say to him. It’s very hard to direct him even to sit in a chair in the dining room.
When we did the film, “Glen Campbell... I’ll Be Me,” which documents his last farewell tour, Glen was in stages 2-4. He knew what was happening to him and he wanted to let people know what Alzheimer’s is really like.
He was passionate about making this film because he hoped it would be a catalyst for more funding for research to find a cure. He wanted to encourage other families who are dealing with this disease to keep living their lives, supporting each other and lifting each other up.
When Glen got the diagnosis and decided to go public, it was because he wanted fans to know what was going on in case he exhibited odd behavior on stage, like repeating a song or forgetting what key it was in.
He just wanted them to understand. But after he made the announcement, we all wondered if anyone would want to come see someone with Alzheimer’s perform.
We wondered if his fans would rather remember him the way he was. Maybe it would be depressing. Or maybe no one would be interested either way.
But what we found was the exact opposite. The first show he did after making the announcement sold out. From the time he walked on stage to the time he walked off, it was one standing ovation after another. It was clear fans were there to shower him with love and to root for, support and encourage him. It really blessed Glen and encouraged him to continue on.
Offers began to pour in from around the country for Glen to come to their cities to perform.
What began as a five-week farewell tour turned into 151 dates. His last show was at the Uptown Theater in Napa, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2012.
The first 15-20 minutes were a train wreck. He was having difficulties. His guitar wasn’t loud enough. It didn’t have the quality he wanted. He became very agitated on stage. He kept turning his back to the audience. His band was very uncomfortable. It was a tough show.
But the audience, again, was so supportive. They cheered for him without fail and without question. They loved him unconditionally.
He snapped back and finished the show strong. It was good, but it was clear it was time for us to end the tour and say farewell.
He closed the show with “A Better Place.”
Daily we pray for grace and mercy as he approaches the final stages of this illness and are so thankful for the moments we see Glen being Glen.
Kim Campbell is married to country music singer Glen Campbell.
Here is the YouTube video link to Mr. Campbell's song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8TsAh-zYFI
You see, Alzheimer's does not discriminate. It does not care if you are famous. It does not care if you are a singer, a writer, a politician, or just an "every day" person. It does not care. Alzheimer's is mean.
Mr. Campbell also did a farewell tour when he knew what was happening to him. That is sad, don't you think? When the person knows something is wrong? Click on the link above and it will take you directly to the Fox News article. He wrote one final song "before Alzheimer's took him away."
Here is the article as written by his wife, Kim Campbell, who I suspect will become another of my heroes.
My husband, Glen Campbell, has stage 6 Alzheimer’s disease. Seven months ago, at the recommendation of his doctors, we placed him in a memory care facility close to our home in Nashville.
It’s a community that’s designed specifically for the needs of those who have Alzheimer’s and dementia. They have all kinds of therapies and activities that stimulate parts of the brain affected by the illness. It’s a safe and secure environment where he receives around-the-clock care.
He lives in a mental fog most of the time. He’s lost most of his language skills and has a hard time communicating. He still has moments of lucidity, though, and those moments let us know he’s still in there and that he’s the Glen we’ve always known. He can make short sentences and say things like “I love you” and “We are so blessed.”
The aides and nurses say he must have been a godly man because they always see him thanking the Lord. I’ve seen him walk over to the window and lift up his hands and say, “Thank you, heavenly Father.”
Those moments are so comforting because when you’re facing your mortality, that’s when you want to know God is there. That’s when you really want to draw close to Him.
When I see him do that, I know God is with him, and he’s aware of His presence. He’s relying on the Lord and gets his strength from Him.
People should not give up on others who have dementia. The essence of who they are is still alive and still in there.
He’s still the Glen Campbell he’s always been. He’s always especially loved children and old people. There’s this little lady in a wheelchair in the facility, and she can’t speak at all. He will walk over to her and take her little hand in his and say, “You are so precious.”
He’ll kiss her on the forehead, and she’ll just look up at him. She has no idea who he is, but you can tell it comforts her.
Even in his affliction, he’s ministering to people and trying to be a blessing.
In between those moments, he’s lost. He wanders. He can’t communicate. He doesn’t understand what others say to him. It’s very hard to direct him even to sit in a chair in the dining room.
When we did the film, “Glen Campbell... I’ll Be Me,” which documents his last farewell tour, Glen was in stages 2-4. He knew what was happening to him and he wanted to let people know what Alzheimer’s is really like.
He was passionate about making this film because he hoped it would be a catalyst for more funding for research to find a cure. He wanted to encourage other families who are dealing with this disease to keep living their lives, supporting each other and lifting each other up.
When Glen got the diagnosis and decided to go public, it was because he wanted fans to know what was going on in case he exhibited odd behavior on stage, like repeating a song or forgetting what key it was in.
He just wanted them to understand. But after he made the announcement, we all wondered if anyone would want to come see someone with Alzheimer’s perform.
We wondered if his fans would rather remember him the way he was. Maybe it would be depressing. Or maybe no one would be interested either way.
But what we found was the exact opposite. The first show he did after making the announcement sold out. From the time he walked on stage to the time he walked off, it was one standing ovation after another. It was clear fans were there to shower him with love and to root for, support and encourage him. It really blessed Glen and encouraged him to continue on.
Offers began to pour in from around the country for Glen to come to their cities to perform.
What began as a five-week farewell tour turned into 151 dates. His last show was at the Uptown Theater in Napa, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2012.
The first 15-20 minutes were a train wreck. He was having difficulties. His guitar wasn’t loud enough. It didn’t have the quality he wanted. He became very agitated on stage. He kept turning his back to the audience. His band was very uncomfortable. It was a tough show.
But the audience, again, was so supportive. They cheered for him without fail and without question. They loved him unconditionally.
He snapped back and finished the show strong. It was good, but it was clear it was time for us to end the tour and say farewell.
He closed the show with “A Better Place.”
Daily we pray for grace and mercy as he approaches the final stages of this illness and are so thankful for the moments we see Glen being Glen.
Kim Campbell is married to country music singer Glen Campbell.
Here is the YouTube video link to Mr. Campbell's song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8TsAh-zYFI
Thursday, March 5, 2015
7 Stages of Alzheimer's
There are 7 stages of Alzheimer's disease. These are as found on the Alzheimer's Association web site (alz.org).
Stage 1: No impairment (normal function): The person does not experience any memory problems. An interview with a medical professional does not show any evidence of symptoms of dementia.
Stage 2: Very mild cognitive decline (may be normal age-related changes or earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease): The person may feel as if he or she is having memory lapses - forgetting familiar words or the location of everyday objects. But no symptoms of dementia can be detected during a medical examination or by friends, family or co-workers.
Stage 1: No impairment (normal function): The person does not experience any memory problems. An interview with a medical professional does not show any evidence of symptoms of dementia.
Stage 2: Very mild cognitive decline (may be normal age-related changes or earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease): The person may feel as if he or she is having memory lapses - forgetting familiar words or the location of everyday objects. But no symptoms of dementia can be detected during a medical examination or by friends, family or co-workers.
| Stage 3: Mild cognitive decline (early-stage Alzheimer's can be diagnosed in some, but not all, individuals with these symptoms): Friends, family or co-workers begin to notice difficulties. During a detailed medical interview, doctors may be able to detect problems in memory or concentration. Common stage 3 difficulties include: - Noticeable problems coming up with the right word or name - Trouble remembering names when introduced to new people - Having noticeably greater difficulty performing tasks in social or work settings. Forgetting material that one has just read - Losing or misplacing a valuable object - Increasing trouble with planning or organizing Stage 4: Moderate cognitive decline (mild or early-stage Alzheimer's disease): At this point, a careful medical interview should be able to detect clear-cut symptoms in several areas: - Forgetfulness of recent events - Impaired ability to perform challenging mental arithmetic - for example, counting backward from 100 by 7's - Greater difficulty performing complex tasks, such as planning dinner for guests, paying bills or managing finances - Forgetfulness about one's own personal history - Becoming moody or withdrawn, especially in socially or mentally challenging situations Stage 5: Moderately severe cognitive decline (moderate or mid-stage Alzheimer's disease): Gaps in memory and thinking are noticeable, and individuals begin to need help with day-to-day activities. At this stage, those with Alzheimer's may: - Be unable to recall their own address or telephone number or the high school or college from which they graduated - Become confused about where they are or what day it is - Have trouble with less challenging mental arithmetic; such as counting backward from 40 by subtracting 4's or from 20 by 2's - Need help choosing proper clothing for the season or the occasion - Still remember significant details about themselves and their family - Still require no assistance with eating or using the toilet Stage 6: Severe cognitive decline (moderately severe or mid-stage Alzheimer's disease): Memory continues to worsen, personality changes may take place and individuals need extensive help with daily activities. At this stage, individuals may: - Lose awareness of recent experiences as well as of their surroundings - Remember their own name but have difficulty with their personal history - Distinguish familiar and unfamiliar faces but have trouble remembering the name of a spouse or caregiver - Need help dressing properly and may, without supervision, make mistakes such as putting pajamas over daytime clothes or shoes on the wrong feet - Experience major changes in sleep patterns - sleeping during the day and becoming restless at night - Need help handing details of toileting (for example, flushing the toilet, wiping or disposing of tissue properly) - Having increasingly frequent trouble controlling their bladder or bowels - Experience major personality and behavioral changes, including suspiciousness and delusions (such as believing that their caregiver is an imposter) or compulsive, repetitive behavior like hand wringing or tissue shredding - Tend to wander or become lost Stage 7: Very severe cognitive decline (severe or late-stage Alzheimer's disease): In the final stage of this disease, individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, to carry on a conversation and, eventually, to control movement. They may still say words or phrases. At this stage, individuals need help with much of their daily personal care, including eating or using the toilet. They may also lose the ability to smile, to sit without support and to hold their heads up. Reflexes become abnormal. Muscles grow rigid. Swallowing impaired. Remember: It is difficult to place a person with Alzheimer's in a specific stage as stages may overlap. If you would like to share your story of dealing with Alzheimer's, please do not hesitate to contact me (mjammons@comcast.net). Together, we can "put a face" to Alzheimer's. |
Monday, March 2, 2015
New Facebook Page!
I am please to announce the launching of my new Facebook page!
I have also chosen this design to be my cover photo and my business card!
This new page is a culmination of both of my other pages, Melissa A's Beaded Makes and Melissa A's Rosary Page. I will have my other two pages active on Facebook, I just won't be posting to them as often. It will take some time to get all my pictures moved over, but I do have a few uploaded. Come on over and take a peek!
https://www.facebook.com/melissaacraftingforacause
I have also chosen this design to be my cover photo and my business card!
This new page is a culmination of both of my other pages, Melissa A's Beaded Makes and Melissa A's Rosary Page. I will have my other two pages active on Facebook, I just won't be posting to them as often. It will take some time to get all my pictures moved over, but I do have a few uploaded. Come on over and take a peek!
https://www.facebook.com/melissaacraftingforacause
Friday, February 27, 2015
My Crafting Efforts to Raise Money
These are a few of the projects I have available, of which a portion will be set aside to be donated to the Alzheimer's Association at the end of 2015.
This is one of my Alzheimer's Rosaries, the awareness color being purple.
This is a white ornament decorated in purple tones.
To see more:
https://www.facebook.com/melissarosarypage
https://www.facebook.com/melissabeadedmakes
If anyone would like to share their story of dealing with Alzheimer's and/or dementia, feel free to contact me at mjammons@comcast.net. Together, we can "put a face" to Alzheimer's.
This is one of my Alzheimer's Rosaries, the awareness color being purple.
This is a white ornament decorated in purple tones.
To see more:
https://www.facebook.com/melissarosarypage
https://www.facebook.com/melissabeadedmakes
If anyone would like to share their story of dealing with Alzheimer's and/or dementia, feel free to contact me at mjammons@comcast.net. Together, we can "put a face" to Alzheimer's.
History of Alzheimer's
This article will give you a breakdown and the timeline for the history of Alzheimer's ...
http://www.alz.org/research/science/major_milestones_in_alzheimers.asp
I encourage you to take the time to read this article. Fascinating.
From the above timeline ...
In 2010, Alzheimer's advances to the sixth-leading cause of US deaths - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics releases final 2007 data showing that Alzheimer's disease is now our sixth-leading cause of death.
How scary is that?
http://www.alz.org/research/science/major_milestones_in_alzheimers.asp
I encourage you to take the time to read this article. Fascinating.
From the above timeline ...
In 2010, Alzheimer's advances to the sixth-leading cause of US deaths - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics releases final 2007 data showing that Alzheimer's disease is now our sixth-leading cause of death.
How scary is that?
Friday, February 20, 2015
Faye's story - my mother-in-law
While I am sitting here looking for different articles on Alzheimer's to share with you and to educate myself, I stumbled across an article related to celebrities and how they have been touched by Alzheimer's. I appreciate their efforts, but Alzheimer's touches more than just celebrities. It touches every day people, people like you and me, people like my mother-in-law.
Yesterday, January 27, 2015, was Faye's birthday. We made sure to call her, even while we are on vacation. Sadly, she had no clue it was even her birthday. It was not a good day. When I talked to her for a few minutes, I asked her how she was feeling. She told me she was feeling fine and then went on to talk about how when her plate was empty these people would bring her more food. I have no clue what she was even talking about. Sigh. This is Alzheimer's and the effect it has on one's memory.
When we go out to dinner, the constant questions are where are we? Have I been here before? What did we order? What's the main dish? They are constant and we exercise a great deal of patience when answering or we just do our best to change the subject. Sadly, it is hard for Faye to "keep up," so to speak, with the conversation and I personally believe this makes her feel left out of a lot.
She seems to do fine in her own environment, her home, but when she is taken out of her "comfort zone," I think a little panic and worry sets in. More and more, she is not recognizing people in pictures that we have hanging in our living room, to include her husband. More and more, she is forgetting even her son's name. This is so heartbreaking on so many levels! If you have never dealt with a loved one with this mean disease, you have no idea ... I know it hurts my husband's heart even if he won't admit it.
On the flip side, this lady seems to have so much energy! We cannot even begin to keep up ... it is almost as if not only has her mind reverted to being a child, so to speak, but so has her energy level.
It also seems that her brain function, for lack of a better term, seems to do better when she eats properly. Her husband, Les, tends to cook way too much and he cooks things that Faye just will not eat, for whatever reason. So, when they stay at home to eat, her diet consists mostly of chicken patties and bananas.
For a while, she was on so many medications, when she would take them, that it wasn't even funny. We started investigating what the side effects for these meds were as she was losing a lot of weight - fast - and she just was not eating, not even a chicken patty! Well, we found out that most of the meds would cause lack of taste and lack of appetite. Off to the doctor we went (I was seriously concerned about her weight loss as she has had colon cancer in the past, or at least polyps) and off the meds she went! What an improvement! Her appetite came back and so did the weight. What a relief! Quite frankly, other than her memory and some deterioration in her kidney function, Faye is healthier than we are! No joke!
One of the scariest things Faye does is wander off. She will get separated from her husband in the store from time to time. It is a very hard thing, but when an individual has dementia you cannot tell them to "meet me at McDonald's at 2PM" and expect them to remember. It is a sad thing. Anyway, she will get separated from him and somehow find a stranger to give her a ride home. Just how she knows where she lives, I don't know. I truly believe it is only through the kindness of strangers and, literally, through the Grace of God that she gets home safely. One time she was found in front of the dollar store by their housekeeper and her husband was still in the store, but because of her dementia she thought he had left her there. Alzheimer's is a cruel disease. (We do have her registered with the police department - I highly encourage you all to do this as well, register your loved ones!)
So, yes, while I think it is an awesome thing the celebrities do when they share their own stories as it helps get the word out about this devastating disease, I think it is even more important for every day people, people like you and me, to do the same thing. I don't think there is enough attention given to Alzheimer's - especially since it is the sixth leading cause of death here in the US ... we need to do more. There has to be more we can do. I think through educating myself and sharing stories, we are taking a step in the right direction. Feel free to contact me and we can share your story with pictures, a favorite Bible verse, a poem, a song, just words ... whatever will help to get the word out - mjammons@comcast.net.
After having lost a loved one to this devastating disease, and feeling the unbelievability of it all, it is my goal, even more than ever - to "put a face" to Alzheimer's.
Yesterday, January 27, 2015, was Faye's birthday. We made sure to call her, even while we are on vacation. Sadly, she had no clue it was even her birthday. It was not a good day. When I talked to her for a few minutes, I asked her how she was feeling. She told me she was feeling fine and then went on to talk about how when her plate was empty these people would bring her more food. I have no clue what she was even talking about. Sigh. This is Alzheimer's and the effect it has on one's memory.
When we go out to dinner, the constant questions are where are we? Have I been here before? What did we order? What's the main dish? They are constant and we exercise a great deal of patience when answering or we just do our best to change the subject. Sadly, it is hard for Faye to "keep up," so to speak, with the conversation and I personally believe this makes her feel left out of a lot.
She seems to do fine in her own environment, her home, but when she is taken out of her "comfort zone," I think a little panic and worry sets in. More and more, she is not recognizing people in pictures that we have hanging in our living room, to include her husband. More and more, she is forgetting even her son's name. This is so heartbreaking on so many levels! If you have never dealt with a loved one with this mean disease, you have no idea ... I know it hurts my husband's heart even if he won't admit it.
On the flip side, this lady seems to have so much energy! We cannot even begin to keep up ... it is almost as if not only has her mind reverted to being a child, so to speak, but so has her energy level.
It also seems that her brain function, for lack of a better term, seems to do better when she eats properly. Her husband, Les, tends to cook way too much and he cooks things that Faye just will not eat, for whatever reason. So, when they stay at home to eat, her diet consists mostly of chicken patties and bananas.
For a while, she was on so many medications, when she would take them, that it wasn't even funny. We started investigating what the side effects for these meds were as she was losing a lot of weight - fast - and she just was not eating, not even a chicken patty! Well, we found out that most of the meds would cause lack of taste and lack of appetite. Off to the doctor we went (I was seriously concerned about her weight loss as she has had colon cancer in the past, or at least polyps) and off the meds she went! What an improvement! Her appetite came back and so did the weight. What a relief! Quite frankly, other than her memory and some deterioration in her kidney function, Faye is healthier than we are! No joke!
One of the scariest things Faye does is wander off. She will get separated from her husband in the store from time to time. It is a very hard thing, but when an individual has dementia you cannot tell them to "meet me at McDonald's at 2PM" and expect them to remember. It is a sad thing. Anyway, she will get separated from him and somehow find a stranger to give her a ride home. Just how she knows where she lives, I don't know. I truly believe it is only through the kindness of strangers and, literally, through the Grace of God that she gets home safely. One time she was found in front of the dollar store by their housekeeper and her husband was still in the store, but because of her dementia she thought he had left her there. Alzheimer's is a cruel disease. (We do have her registered with the police department - I highly encourage you all to do this as well, register your loved ones!)
So, yes, while I think it is an awesome thing the celebrities do when they share their own stories as it helps get the word out about this devastating disease, I think it is even more important for every day people, people like you and me, to do the same thing. I don't think there is enough attention given to Alzheimer's - especially since it is the sixth leading cause of death here in the US ... we need to do more. There has to be more we can do. I think through educating myself and sharing stories, we are taking a step in the right direction. Feel free to contact me and we can share your story with pictures, a favorite Bible verse, a poem, a song, just words ... whatever will help to get the word out - mjammons@comcast.net.
After having lost a loved one to this devastating disease, and feeling the unbelievability of it all, it is my goal, even more than ever - to "put a face" to Alzheimer's.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Alzheimer's is Not a Joke
I wonder if I am super sensitive to the subject of Alzheimer's. As I was scrolling through Facebook one evening, I saw something that was rather disturbing ... to me anyway.
A friend of mine had posted, as we all do, a miscellaneous fact about her father having forgotten his overnight bag when he came to their home. He went home and again forgot his bag. See? Just a random post about life. One of her friends commented to the effect that maybe he has Alzheimer's. Why is this a joke in our society?
That is as bad as using the word "retarded" in describing something, I think.
Alzheimer's is one of the 10 leading causes of death today!
This is a seriously mean, debilitating illness/disease that we need to educate ourselves about, not make jokes about.
A friend of mine had posted, as we all do, a miscellaneous fact about her father having forgotten his overnight bag when he came to their home. He went home and again forgot his bag. See? Just a random post about life. One of her friends commented to the effect that maybe he has Alzheimer's. Why is this a joke in our society?
That is as bad as using the word "retarded" in describing something, I think.
Alzheimer's is one of the 10 leading causes of death today!
This is a seriously mean, debilitating illness/disease that we need to educate ourselves about, not make jokes about.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Alois Alzheimer - The Man who Discovered Alzheimer's
As taken from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Alzheimer
Dr. Aloysius "Alois" Alzheimer (German: [ˈaːloˌis ˈalts.haɪmɐ]; 14 June 1864 – 19 December 1915) was a Bavarian-born German psychiatrist and neuropathologist and a colleague of Emil Kraepelin. Alzheimer is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin would later identify as Alzheimer's disease.[1]
Alois Alzheimer was born in Marktbreit, Bavaria on 14 June 1864.[2] His father served in the office of notary public in the family's hometown.[3]
Alzheimer attended Aschaffenburg, Tübingen, Berlin, and Würzburg universities. He received a medical degree at Würzburg University in 1886. In the following year, he spent five months assisting mentally ill women, before he took an office in the city mental asylum in Frankfurt am Main: the Städtische Anstalt für Irre und Epileptische (Asylum for Lunatics and Epileptics). Emil Sioli (1852–1922) was the dean of the asylum. Another neurologist, Franz Nissl (1860–1919), began to work in the same asylum with Alzheimer, and they knew each other. Much of Alzheimer's later work on brain pathology made use of Nissl's method of silver staining of the histological sections. Alzheimer was the co-founder and co-publisher of the journal Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie, though he never wrote a book that he could call his own.
In 1901, Dr. Alzheimer observed a patient at the Frankfurt Asylum named Auguste Deter. The 51-year-old patient had strange behavioral symptoms, including a loss of short-term memory. This patient would become his obsession over the coming years. In April 1906, Mrs Deter died and Alzheimer had the patient records and the brain brought to Munich where he was working at Kraepelin's lab. With two Italian physicians, he used the staining techniques to identify amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. A speech given on 3 November 1906 was the first time the pathology and the clinical symptoms of presenile dementia were presented together.[4] Through extremely fortunate circumstances the original microscope preparations on which Alzheimer based his description of the disease were rediscovered some years ago in Munich and his findings could thus be reevaluated.[5]
Since German was the lingua franca of science[citation needed] (and especially of psychiatry) at that time, Kraepelin's use of Alzheimer's disease in a textbook made the name famous. By 1911, his description of the disease was being used by European physicians to diagnose patients in the US.[4]
In August 1912, Dr. Alzheimer fell ill on the train on his way to the University of Breslau, where he had been appointed professor of psychiatry in July 1912. Most probably he had a streptococcal infection and subsequent rheumatic fever leading to valvular heart disease, heart failure and kidney failure. He never recovered completely from this illness. He died of heart failure on 19 December 1915, at the age of 51 in Breslau, Silesia, presently Wrocław, Poland. He was buried on 23 December 1915 next to his wife Cecilie in the Hauptfriedhof in Frankfurt am Main.
Dr. Aloysius "Alois" Alzheimer (German: [ˈaːloˌis ˈalts.haɪmɐ]; 14 June 1864 – 19 December 1915) was a Bavarian-born German psychiatrist and neuropathologist and a colleague of Emil Kraepelin. Alzheimer is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin would later identify as Alzheimer's disease.[1]
Alois Alzheimer was born in Marktbreit, Bavaria on 14 June 1864.[2] His father served in the office of notary public in the family's hometown.[3]
Alzheimer attended Aschaffenburg, Tübingen, Berlin, and Würzburg universities. He received a medical degree at Würzburg University in 1886. In the following year, he spent five months assisting mentally ill women, before he took an office in the city mental asylum in Frankfurt am Main: the Städtische Anstalt für Irre und Epileptische (Asylum for Lunatics and Epileptics). Emil Sioli (1852–1922) was the dean of the asylum. Another neurologist, Franz Nissl (1860–1919), began to work in the same asylum with Alzheimer, and they knew each other. Much of Alzheimer's later work on brain pathology made use of Nissl's method of silver staining of the histological sections. Alzheimer was the co-founder and co-publisher of the journal Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie, though he never wrote a book that he could call his own.
In 1901, Dr. Alzheimer observed a patient at the Frankfurt Asylum named Auguste Deter. The 51-year-old patient had strange behavioral symptoms, including a loss of short-term memory. This patient would become his obsession over the coming years. In April 1906, Mrs Deter died and Alzheimer had the patient records and the brain brought to Munich where he was working at Kraepelin's lab. With two Italian physicians, he used the staining techniques to identify amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. A speech given on 3 November 1906 was the first time the pathology and the clinical symptoms of presenile dementia were presented together.[4] Through extremely fortunate circumstances the original microscope preparations on which Alzheimer based his description of the disease were rediscovered some years ago in Munich and his findings could thus be reevaluated.[5]
Since German was the lingua franca of science[citation needed] (and especially of psychiatry) at that time, Kraepelin's use of Alzheimer's disease in a textbook made the name famous. By 1911, his description of the disease was being used by European physicians to diagnose patients in the US.[4]
In August 1912, Dr. Alzheimer fell ill on the train on his way to the University of Breslau, where he had been appointed professor of psychiatry in July 1912. Most probably he had a streptococcal infection and subsequent rheumatic fever leading to valvular heart disease, heart failure and kidney failure. He never recovered completely from this illness. He died of heart failure on 19 December 1915, at the age of 51 in Breslau, Silesia, presently Wrocław, Poland. He was buried on 23 December 1915 next to his wife Cecilie in the Hauptfriedhof in Frankfurt am Main.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
First Person Diagnosed with Alzheimer's
Google search - Auguste Deter (German pronunciation: [aʊ̯ˈɡʊstə ˈdeːtɐ]; 16 May 1850 – 8 April 1906) is the first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Her maiden name is unknown. She married Karl Deter in the 1880s and together they had one daughter. Auguste had a normal life.
As found on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Deter
Auguste Deter (German pronunciation: [aʊ̯ˈɡʊstə ˈdeːtɐ]; 16 May 1850 – 8 April 1906) is the first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Her maiden name is unknown. She married Karl Deter in the 1880s and together they had one daughter. Auguste had a normal life. However, during the late 1890s, she started showing symptoms of dementia, such as: loss of memory, delusions, and even temporary vegetative states. She would have trouble sleeping, would drag sheets across the house, and even scream for hours in the middle of the night.
Karl could not take it any more. Being a railway worker, he had to admit her to a mental institution so that he could continue to work. He brought her to the Institution for the Mentally Ill and for Epileptics in Frankfurt, Germany, on 25 November 1901 where she was examined by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. He asked her many questions, and later asked again to see if she remembered. He told her to write her name. She tried to, but would forget the rest and repeat: "I have lost myself." (German: "Ich hab mich verloren.") He later put her in an isolation room for a while. When he released her, she would run out screaming, "I do not cut myself. I will not cut myself." Her words have been commemorated in an important work, commissioned by the Susquehanna Valley Chorale, composed by Robert Cohen and librettist Herschel Garfein, entitled "Alzheimer Stories".
After many years, she became completely demented, muttering to herself. She died on 8 April 1906. More than a century later, her case was re-examined with modern medical technologies, where a genetic cause was found for her disease by scientists from Gießen and Sydney. The results were published in the journal The Lancet Neurology. According to this paper, a mutation in the PSEN1 gene was found, which alters the function of gamma secretase, and is a known cause of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Rediscovery of Auguste Deter's medical records
In 1996, Dr. Konrad Maurer and his colleagues, Drs. Volk and Gerbaldo, rediscovered the medical record of Auguste Deter.[1] In it Dr. Alzheimer had recorded his examination of his patient,
Around midday, Frau Auguste D. ate pork and cauliflower.
In 1902, Alzheimer left the "Irrenschloss" (Castle of the Insane),[3] as the Institution was known colloquially, to take up a position in Munich but he made frequent calls to Frankfurt inquiring about Deter's condition. On 9 April 1906, Alzheimer received a call from Frankfurt that Auguste Deter had died. He requested that her medical records and brain be sent to him. Her chart recorded that in the last years of her life, her condition had deteriorated considerably. Her death was the result of sepsis caused by an infected bedsore. On examining her brain, he found senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.[2]
Auguste D - the "face" of Alzheimer's. I think her story is just as important today as it was in 1901.
As found on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Deter
Auguste Deter (German pronunciation: [aʊ̯ˈɡʊstə ˈdeːtɐ]; 16 May 1850 – 8 April 1906) is the first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Her maiden name is unknown. She married Karl Deter in the 1880s and together they had one daughter. Auguste had a normal life. However, during the late 1890s, she started showing symptoms of dementia, such as: loss of memory, delusions, and even temporary vegetative states. She would have trouble sleeping, would drag sheets across the house, and even scream for hours in the middle of the night.
Karl could not take it any more. Being a railway worker, he had to admit her to a mental institution so that he could continue to work. He brought her to the Institution for the Mentally Ill and for Epileptics in Frankfurt, Germany, on 25 November 1901 where she was examined by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. He asked her many questions, and later asked again to see if she remembered. He told her to write her name. She tried to, but would forget the rest and repeat: "I have lost myself." (German: "Ich hab mich verloren.") He later put her in an isolation room for a while. When he released her, she would run out screaming, "I do not cut myself. I will not cut myself." Her words have been commemorated in an important work, commissioned by the Susquehanna Valley Chorale, composed by Robert Cohen and librettist Herschel Garfein, entitled "Alzheimer Stories".
After many years, she became completely demented, muttering to herself. She died on 8 April 1906. More than a century later, her case was re-examined with modern medical technologies, where a genetic cause was found for her disease by scientists from Gießen and Sydney. The results were published in the journal The Lancet Neurology. According to this paper, a mutation in the PSEN1 gene was found, which alters the function of gamma secretase, and is a known cause of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Rediscovery of Auguste Deter's medical records
In 1996, Dr. Konrad Maurer and his colleagues, Drs. Volk and Gerbaldo, rediscovered the medical record of Auguste Deter.[1] In it Dr. Alzheimer had recorded his examination of his patient,
- "What is your name?“
- "Auguste.“
- "Family name?“
- "Auguste.“
- "What is your husband's name?“ - she hesitates, finally answers:
- "I believe ... Auguste.“
- "Your husband?“
- "Oh, so!“
- "How old are you?“
- "Fifty-one.“
- "Where do you live?“
- "Oh, you have been to our place“
- "Are you married?“
- "Oh, I am so confused.“
- "Where are you right now?“
- "Here and everywhere, here and now, you must not think badly of me.“
- "Where are you at the moment?“
- "We will live there.“
- "Where is your bed?“
- "Where should it be?“
Around midday, Frau Auguste D. ate pork and cauliflower.
- "What are you eating?“
- "Spinach.“ (She was chewing meat.)
- "What are you eating now?“
- "First I eat potatoes and then horseradish.“
- "Write a '5'."
- She writes: "A woman"
- "Write an '8'."
- She writes: "Auguste" (While she is writing she repeatedly says, "I have lost myself, so to say.")[2]
In 1902, Alzheimer left the "Irrenschloss" (Castle of the Insane),[3] as the Institution was known colloquially, to take up a position in Munich but he made frequent calls to Frankfurt inquiring about Deter's condition. On 9 April 1906, Alzheimer received a call from Frankfurt that Auguste Deter had died. He requested that her medical records and brain be sent to him. Her chart recorded that in the last years of her life, her condition had deteriorated considerably. Her death was the result of sepsis caused by an infected bedsore. On examining her brain, he found senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.[2]
Auguste D - the "face" of Alzheimer's. I think her story is just as important today as it was in 1901.
Friday, January 23, 2015
10 Signs of Alzheimer's
The definition of Alzheimer's - Memory loss that disrupts daily life may be a symptom of Alzheimer's or another dementia. Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. There are 10 warning signs and symptoms. Every individual may experience one or more of these signs in different degrees.
These are the 10 Signs of Alzheimer's as found on the Alzheimer's Association web site (alz.org).
1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life. One of the most common signs of Alzheimer’s, especially in the early stages, is forgetting recently learned information. Others include forgetting important dates or events; asking for the same information over and over; relying on memory aides (e.g., reminder notes or electronic devices) or family members for things they used to handle on their own. What's typical? Sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but remembering them later.
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems. Some people may experience changes in their ability to develop and follow a plan or work with numbers. They may have trouble following a familiar recipe or keeping track of monthly bills. They may have difficulty concentrating and take much longer to do things than they did before. What's typical? Making occasional errors when balancing a checkbook.
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure. People with Alzheimer’s often find it hard to complete daily tasks. Sometimes, people may have trouble driving to a familiar location, managing a budget at work or remembering the rules of a favorite game. What’s typical? Occasionally needing help to use the settings on a microwave or to record a television show.
4. Confusion with time or place. People with Alzheimer's can lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time. They may have trouble understanding something if it is not happening immediately. Sometimes they may forget where they are or how they got there. What's typical? Getting confused about the day of the week but figuring it out later.
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. For some people, having vision problems is a sign of Alzheimer's. They may have difficulty reading, judging distance and determining color or contrast. In terms of perception, they may pass a mirror and think someone else is in the room. They may not recognize their own reflection. What's typical? Vision changes related to cataracts.
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing. People with Alzheimer's may have trouble following or joining a conversation. They may stop in the middle of a conversation and have no idea how to continue or they may repeat themselves. They may struggle with vocabulary, have problems finding the right word or call things by the wrong name (e.g., calling a watch a "hand clock"). What's typical? Sometimes having trouble finding the right word.
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places. They may lose things and be unable to go back over their steps to find them again. Sometimes, they may accuse others of stealing. This may occur more frequently over time. What's typical? Misplacing things from time to time, such as a pair of glasses or the remote control.
8. Decreased or poor judgment. People with Alzheimer's may experience changes in judgment or decision making. For example, they may use poor judgment when dealing with money, giving large amounts to telemarketers. They may pay less attention to grooming or keeping themselves clean. What's typical? Making a bad decision once in a while.
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities. A person with Alzheimer's may start to remove themselves from hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports. They may have trouble keeping up with a favorite sports team or remembering how to complete a favorite hobby. They may also avoid being social because of the changes they have experienced. What's typical? Sometimes feeling weary of work, family and social obligations.
10. Changes in mood and personality. The mood and personalities of people with Alzheimer's can change. They can become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious. They may be easily upset at home, at work, with friends or in places where they are out of their comfort zone. What's typical? Developing very specific ways of doing things and becoming irritable when a routine is disrupted.
If you have questions about any of these warning signs, the Alzheimer’s Association recommends consulting a physician. Early diagnosis provides the best opportunities for treatment, support and future planning.
If you would like to share your story of dealing with Alzheimer's, please do not hesitate to contact me (mjammons@comcast.net). Together, we can "put a face" to Alzheimer's.
These are the 10 Signs of Alzheimer's as found on the Alzheimer's Association web site (alz.org).
1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life. One of the most common signs of Alzheimer’s, especially in the early stages, is forgetting recently learned information. Others include forgetting important dates or events; asking for the same information over and over; relying on memory aides (e.g., reminder notes or electronic devices) or family members for things they used to handle on their own. What's typical? Sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but remembering them later.
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems. Some people may experience changes in their ability to develop and follow a plan or work with numbers. They may have trouble following a familiar recipe or keeping track of monthly bills. They may have difficulty concentrating and take much longer to do things than they did before. What's typical? Making occasional errors when balancing a checkbook.
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure. People with Alzheimer’s often find it hard to complete daily tasks. Sometimes, people may have trouble driving to a familiar location, managing a budget at work or remembering the rules of a favorite game. What’s typical? Occasionally needing help to use the settings on a microwave or to record a television show.
4. Confusion with time or place. People with Alzheimer's can lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time. They may have trouble understanding something if it is not happening immediately. Sometimes they may forget where they are or how they got there. What's typical? Getting confused about the day of the week but figuring it out later.
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. For some people, having vision problems is a sign of Alzheimer's. They may have difficulty reading, judging distance and determining color or contrast. In terms of perception, they may pass a mirror and think someone else is in the room. They may not recognize their own reflection. What's typical? Vision changes related to cataracts.
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing. People with Alzheimer's may have trouble following or joining a conversation. They may stop in the middle of a conversation and have no idea how to continue or they may repeat themselves. They may struggle with vocabulary, have problems finding the right word or call things by the wrong name (e.g., calling a watch a "hand clock"). What's typical? Sometimes having trouble finding the right word.
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places. They may lose things and be unable to go back over their steps to find them again. Sometimes, they may accuse others of stealing. This may occur more frequently over time. What's typical? Misplacing things from time to time, such as a pair of glasses or the remote control.
8. Decreased or poor judgment. People with Alzheimer's may experience changes in judgment or decision making. For example, they may use poor judgment when dealing with money, giving large amounts to telemarketers. They may pay less attention to grooming or keeping themselves clean. What's typical? Making a bad decision once in a while.
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities. A person with Alzheimer's may start to remove themselves from hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports. They may have trouble keeping up with a favorite sports team or remembering how to complete a favorite hobby. They may also avoid being social because of the changes they have experienced. What's typical? Sometimes feeling weary of work, family and social obligations.
10. Changes in mood and personality. The mood and personalities of people with Alzheimer's can change. They can become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious. They may be easily upset at home, at work, with friends or in places where they are out of their comfort zone. What's typical? Developing very specific ways of doing things and becoming irritable when a routine is disrupted.
If you have questions about any of these warning signs, the Alzheimer’s Association recommends consulting a physician. Early diagnosis provides the best opportunities for treatment, support and future planning.
If you would like to share your story of dealing with Alzheimer's, please do not hesitate to contact me (mjammons@comcast.net). Together, we can "put a face" to Alzheimer's.
Friday, January 16, 2015
The Reagans
Nancy Reagan is my absolute hero.
I found this interesting article about Mr. Reagan's disease - http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/3/alzheimers-reagans-long-goodbye/?page=all
This is not about politics. This is not about making a movie. This is one of the many faces of Alzheimer's.
I remember watching an interview one time with Mr. Reagan ... 60 Minutes or something ... they asked him about Nancy. I remember him saying something to the effect that he "missed her as soon as she left the room." That is an amazing statement on their relationship, I think!
Why is Nancy Reagan my hero, you ask? Because she stayed. Through it all, she stayed. To me, that makes Nancy Reagan a remarkable woman. She stayed.
Alzheimer's is a devastating, heartbreaking disease. While most people may have thought about leaving or maybe putting their loved one in a home, and maybe she did, I don't know, but she stayed. Together, while he could, The Reagans brought some attention to Alzheimer's.
In the article I posted above, at the very end, it states that there were days when he didn't know her - she stayed.
If anyone would like to share their personal story of dealing with Alzheimer's, whether it be through care-giving or losing someone, do not hesitate to contact me: mjammons@comcast.net - We can tell your story with pictures, a favorite Bible verse, a poem, a prayer ...
Also, for those dealing with grief for whatever reason, remember we all heal in our own time, in our own way. Grief is as individual as we are. This web site can help - http://grief.com.
This is one of the faces of Alzheimer's. This is one of the faces of the many caretakers. This is the face of an amazing lady who stayed with her husband until the very end.
This is not political. This is not about movies. This is one of the many faces of Alzheimer's.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Nancy
It saddens me to write this. Nancy, my second mom, was born March 27, 1925, and passed on January 2, 2015. She had Alzheimer's. I feel so sad and so full of emptiness. I will miss her always. As selfish as it sounds, I am heartbroken. I have memories I'd love to share.
Like this one - do you remember the really in-depth conversation we had, just me and you, a few months after I first moved down here? I've been thinking on that lately.
And this one - do you remember the time we had Christmas at the house that I bought here in town? It was the first Christmas for me there ... you were there. Clark was there, the kids ... I don't believe we had any "strays" that year. Remember the oven fire? Wow! That sure was something wasn't it? I'm so surprised the house didn't burn down and I didn't have to buy a new stove! I loved having you there.
This picture means so much more to me now than it did. This was taken August 22, 2009, the day before our wedding. Nancy and her daughters, Dale and Lynn, made the trip to California for Randy and I. Mom took this picture and I am so glad she did. This was at a "party," of sorts, at Nancy's previous residence here in town. I loved her like a mom.
April 2010 - I went to Oregon for your birthday/Easter celebration. You were the lady of the day! I remember just sitting on the couch with you, just holding your hand. The kids were all wildly running around like kids do. I said something about this family getting larger. You agreed and told me you couldn't keep up with all of them. I cherish the memory! (This is me, Nancy, and my mom.)
April 2010 - surrounded by the whole family!
April 2010 - See that smile? Always present, always a smile for everyone!
December 2014 - Smiling forever. While I made the choice not to see you while you were sick, I cherish your memory and thank you for letting me be a part of your family. I am sure the emptiness and sadness will subside over time, but I will forever miss you!
If any of you are dealing with a loss, of any form, I found this great web site with the 5 stages of grief and some explanations. There is also a list on this site that has the "right" and "wrong" things to say. If you're like me, you never know what to say! Remember, your grief is as personal as you are - there is no timeline - you heal as best you can in your own time, no one else's. http://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/
If any of you would like to share your story and/or memories of a loved one who is battling or who has lost the battle with Alzheimer's, do not hesitate to contact me. We can write your story with pictures, a favorite Bible verse, a prayer ... mjammons@comcast.net. Let's help "put a face" to Alzheimer's!
Like this one - do you remember the really in-depth conversation we had, just me and you, a few months after I first moved down here? I've been thinking on that lately.
And this one - do you remember the time we had Christmas at the house that I bought here in town? It was the first Christmas for me there ... you were there. Clark was there, the kids ... I don't believe we had any "strays" that year. Remember the oven fire? Wow! That sure was something wasn't it? I'm so surprised the house didn't burn down and I didn't have to buy a new stove! I loved having you there.
This picture means so much more to me now than it did. This was taken August 22, 2009, the day before our wedding. Nancy and her daughters, Dale and Lynn, made the trip to California for Randy and I. Mom took this picture and I am so glad she did. This was at a "party," of sorts, at Nancy's previous residence here in town. I loved her like a mom.
April 2010 - I went to Oregon for your birthday/Easter celebration. You were the lady of the day! I remember just sitting on the couch with you, just holding your hand. The kids were all wildly running around like kids do. I said something about this family getting larger. You agreed and told me you couldn't keep up with all of them. I cherish the memory! (This is me, Nancy, and my mom.)
April 2010 - surrounded by the whole family!
April 2010 - See that smile? Always present, always a smile for everyone!
December 2014 - Smiling forever. While I made the choice not to see you while you were sick, I cherish your memory and thank you for letting me be a part of your family. I am sure the emptiness and sadness will subside over time, but I will forever miss you!
If any of you are dealing with a loss, of any form, I found this great web site with the 5 stages of grief and some explanations. There is also a list on this site that has the "right" and "wrong" things to say. If you're like me, you never know what to say! Remember, your grief is as personal as you are - there is no timeline - you heal as best you can in your own time, no one else's. http://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/
If any of you would like to share your story and/or memories of a loved one who is battling or who has lost the battle with Alzheimer's, do not hesitate to contact me. We can write your story with pictures, a favorite Bible verse, a prayer ... mjammons@comcast.net. Let's help "put a face" to Alzheimer's!
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