April 8, 2013 · 8:12 pm

Dementia does not discriminate

The big news today was the passing of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. A polarizing political figure, my father was definitely never a fan of hers. However, my father ended up having something in common with her when her daughter revealed in 2008 that Thatcher suffered from dementia. A powerful woman who was known for her sharp and keen intellect, her memory was destroyed by disease over the last several years of her life. It’s a cruel twist of fate for sure, regardless of how you feel about her political career.

Dementia does not discriminate between rich and poor. Political allies and world leaders Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan battled dementia at the end of their lives. While it’s true that the economic burden of the disease is lifted for the rich and famous, it doesn’t take away the fact that all of the money and power in the world can’t cure dementia.

Alzheimer’s and dementia awareness advocates know the horrors of this disease and the damage it does to families. High-profile cases bring greater awareness, not that I ever want another person diagnosed with this dreaded disease. But in our society, the rich and famous do have power to highlight the various injustices of the world, from disease to poverty to racism. Maybe other world leaders will take note and reconsider better research funding for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

1 Comment

Filed under Awareness & Activism

Tagged as , , ,

April 3, 2013 · 6:54 pm

Dementia an expensive disease

I’ve written about this before, but it is worth beating the drum again. Dementia care is expensive. If we think the past few years in the U.S. were bad with the housing crisis and the rising unemployment rate, just wait until dementia meets the baby boomers in a terrible perfect storm.

What this most recent study reveals is something that family caregivers of dementia sufferers have known for quite awhile. It’s not medical care that most dementia patients need, but the necessity of institutional or professional home care that drives up costs astronomically. The per-person cost was estimated to be between $40,000-$60,000 per year. My father only required a year of institutional care, but my aunt that recently passed away who had Alzheimer’s spent the last several years of her life in a facility. You do the math, it’s depressing. The average family will go bankrupt very quickly if something is not done to remedy this situation.

As I’ve said before, I don’t know what the answers are. If there were more support, financially and otherwise for family caregivers, some families would choose to keep their loved ones with dementia at home for longer. I’m not a fan of more taxes or government programs, but it does seem as a government and as a society we are letting down the elderly generation. We pay property taxes so children can get a free public education. Fine. But what happens after you grow up, you work all of your life, pay taxes while saving up as much as you can, and then your mind gets sick? You lose everything and it becomes a family problem.

Really though, Alzheimer’s is a world dilemma. Whether or not it touches everyone’s family directly, this disease has a lasting impact on society.

Leave a comment

Filed under Awareness & Activism

Tagged as ,

March 31, 2013 · 2:53 pm

Easter Memories

I remember going on a few Easter egg hunts as a kid. I believe we usually went to the one at the neighborhood park and I think we went to a hunt at the shopping mall one year. Dad didn’t mind taking us to these kiddie events, though he always lurked far away from the festivities, smoking behind a tree patiently. As a kid perhaps I would have preferred a more hands-on father who became excited about plastic eggs and jelly beans and chocolate bunnies, but as an adult, I totally understand his indifference. At least Mom was there with enough enthusiasm for the both of them.

dad-easter

I’ve written previously about our humble but pleasant Easter family traditions but I also remember Easter egg hunts in our apartment. Dad would be roped into helping, though I doubt he put much effort into it, which was a bonus for me! To be fair, it was pretty difficult to hide anything in our small living quarters, but Mom could get pretty creative. I remember enjoying these at-home Easter egg hunts even more than the public ones. (Well let’s face it, since I was an only child I had no competition at home!)

I don’t have any bad memories of Easter. The holiday just floated by in a sweet haze.

Leave a comment

Filed under Memories

Tagged as , , ,

March 27, 2013 · 9:24 pm

Job recommendation for Dad

LinkedIn and other career-related online tools are so much a part of our professional lives now. Asking for a recommendation is as simple as sending someone an online message. But back when my father was a young man in search for work, you had to work a bit harder to get those recommendations.

I would love to know more about how Dad came to know the law office in question and what group it was that he helped with the planning of the St. Patrick’s Day celebration. St. Patty’s Day in New Orleans? Now that must have been a blast!

Dad-ltr-2

It is curious that the author of the letter incorrectly stated that Dad’s hometown was Dublin. I don’t know if that was deliberate or just an oversight. But his description of my father as a worker was spot on. “Able and capable” and whose “honest and integrity could be relied upon.” Yes, indeed that sums up Dad in his professional life. Even though he worked in blue collar jobs all of his life, he was always grateful for the opportunity and never thought he was too good to perform a certain task.

Like the doctor at the hospital in Albuquerque said, they don’t make them like my dad anymore.

3 Comments

Filed under Memories

March 22, 2013 · 5:52 pm

I’ve been following the Two Socks on One Foot blog for awhile, and often see similarities in our stories as family caregivers of a parent with dementia.This post especially reminds me of how Dad suddenly ended up in a care center. It’s important reading for any dementia caregiver.

beverleyajohnson's avatarTwo Socks on One Foot

10 days ago Mum had 2 falls in one day.  I came in at lunchtime and she was sitting on the bedroom floor, though apparently uninjured.  I couldn’t get her back on her feet so rang my sister to help but we still couldn’t get her up between us.  At one point she went quite pale and breathless so I rang an ambulance.  We laid Mum on the floor with pillows under her and a blanket over her….and there she spent the afternoon.  The ambulance took 5 hours to arrive!  I rang several times and it was always the same response.  There were higher priority emergencies apparently.

We managed to get her up before the ambulance arrived.  My niece came round and between the 3 of us, we got Mum up again but she was so unsteady on her feet, I was really concerned.  When the paramedics arrived, they gave…

View original post 724 more words

Leave a comment

Filed under Memories

March 17, 2013 · 6:31 pm

Dad in no hurry to marry

I can’t help but think of Dad on St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve already made my toast with Irish whiskey and I’ve cooked vegetarian versions of Irish stew and Colcannon. I believe I’ve mentioned before that for Dad being such a proud Irishman, he was not big on celebrating the holiday. I think he was suspicious of the cartoonish leprechauns and the focus on getting drunk (though Dad loved to have a few pints himself).

Image: Clipartpal.com

Image: Clipartpal.com

Mom was telling me today that she thinks it was more her idea to marry than Dad’s. He seemed to be in no rush to get hitched, despite the fact that he was in his mid-thirties and still single. She didn’t have to push him very hard for him to agree to go down to Mexico and get married, but I wonder what was running through his head at the time.

I think sometimes daughters find it awkward to talk to their fathers about romance, but there are questions about his relationship with Mom that will forever go unanswered now. Mothers and daughters tend to share more information like that more readily. My advice is if you want to know something about your parents, ask now. The worst they can say is no. Otherwise, you may be left wondering the rest of your life about little details of your parents’ lives before you came into the picture.

3 Comments

Filed under Memories

Tagged as ,

March 12, 2013 · 10:11 pm

A good night’s rest the key to preventing Alzheimer’s?

An interesting study has been in the news this week, suggesting a possible link between sleep quality and Alzheimer’s. While the study doesn’t suggest that everyone with insomnia will develop dementia, the study did find an interesting correlation between poor sleep quality and an increase in amyloid protein production, the latter which is associated with the brain plaque found in Alzheimer’s patients.

insomnia

My father had no trouble sleeping most of his life. In fact, sometimes I felt like he slept too much, especially when I was a kid. He worked the swing shift so he was on a different schedule from the rest of us. He would go to bed about 2 a.m. after winding down with a couple of beers and watching late night TV. So even if he just slept the recommended eight hours a night, that would mean he wouldn’t rise until mid-morning. I was an early riser for school and I don’t know if Mom ever slept at all, haha.

Other than Dad’s occasional nightmares, I don’t remember Dad having any sleep issues. As Dad’s dementia progressed, his sleep patterns shifted. He would stay up all night, just sitting in his chair in the living room, fully dressed in his day clothes. He would spend the day nodding off, falling asleep wherever he was.

What came first? The sleep issues or the dementia? We will never know, but getting a good night’s sleep offers many health benefits. I’ve never been one prone to insomnia, but in the past couple of years, I’ve been awakened by my senior pets in the middle of night needing food or other care. So my sleep pattern has been consistently broken. I will be following further sleep and dementia studies very closely.

3 Comments

Filed under Awareness & Activism

Tagged as , ,

March 6, 2013 · 10:55 am

Connection between hearing loss and dementia?

One topic I’ve seen latelyin the world of dementia news is that hearing loss could be a symptom of dementia. There is growing evidence suggesting that hearing loss speeds up cognitive decline in the elderly. Doctors think there may be a mental and physical component. Physically, the brain has to direct extra resources to help with hearing problems and emotionally, people become more socially isolated as their hearing loss becomes more profound.

hearing aid

Dad did experience fairly significant hearing loss in the years before his dementia symptoms appeared. Mom suspected Dad was just using hearing loss as a way to tune her out, and I could see that as being a real possibility! But now I wonder if Dad’s hearing loss was the first sign of a much more serious health issue.

I think it would be a good idea if dementia screening became routine for elderly patients that complain of hearing loss. Many of the dementia screening tests are non-invasive, painless and quick to perform. Early diagnosis usually means more treatment options.

1 Comment

Filed under Awareness & Activism

Tagged as ,

March 1, 2013 · 6:34 pm

Dementia’s toll on the workforce

I read this USA Today article about how family caregivers of dementia patients are having a negative impact on the workforce. It is very true and yet another consequence of Alzheimer’s, one that is often overlooked. According to the article, 1 in 7 Americans have been or are currently caregivers for family members. Almost 70 percent of those people had to modify their work schedule in some way. This is a big loss of productivity for companies, if you want to look at it from a cold, hard statistical perspective.

Of course, as any caregiver knows, caregiving goes beyond just the physical tasks. Caregivers often become depressed, anxious and suffer from exhaustion. This can lead to accidents on the job or poor working relations with co-workers.

While I was not a direct caregiver to my dad, I was for my mom for the last half of 2012. My mom didn’t have dementia, she had cancer, but her need for a family caregiver was just as necessary. And I did the only thing I felt like I could do in that situation, which was quit my job. It was not a decision I made lightly, but my mom’s recovery depended upon having a family advocate by her side for several months. I’m an only child, and Dad passed the year before.

Right now, I’m back home but I’m still only working part-time. I’m hesitant to apply for full-time work again because I fear my mom may need me again. Financially, part-time income will not be sustainable in the long-term.

There are no easy answers, but caregivers and their ill loved ones need better community support. While there are some family members who want to be full-time caregivers, I think many caregivers benefit from keeping to as normal as a routine as possible. Caregivers shouldn’t have to choose between providing loving care for their loved ones and being able to support themselves and their families.

1 Comment

Filed under Awareness & Activism

Tagged as , , , ,

February 25, 2013 · 7:14 pm

Mom and Dad split up?

Well, here’s something about my parents that I never knew before. Mom and I were discussing the strange case of the Canadian tourist found dead at the Cecil Hotel and Mom mentioned that Dad was staying there when they dated. She said she would take the bus from her apartment to the Cecil Hotel to meet Dad. Then they would take another bus to the race track or wherever they were going on their date. They had to take a bus because Dad did not have a car. At the time, he did not even know hw to drive.

Dad was a handsome devil!

Dad was a handsome devil!

And it was Dad’s lack of wheels of all things that caused them to break up a few times. Mom came from that era and culture where you looked at a guy’s shiny set of wheels before you checked out the guy himself. Mom told me they got in a few tiffs that would cause them to take a break from each other for a few weeks at a time. Guess it’s a good thing that Dad got his best buddy to teach him how to drive.

But Mom admitted that she was the one that caved in and would call up Dad when they were on hiatus. Dad would ask why Mom was calling him and Mom would say to find out why Dad hadn’t called her. 🙂

Eventually, Dad obtained his license and a car and Mom’s heart. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Leave a comment

Filed under Memories

Tagged as , , ,