ALZHIMER'S
On a Thursday
afternoon before his golf game; Veda is one of the last to arrive for his
support group. About 17 Alzheimer’s patients and care givers meet in a windowless
basement room at Sty Luke’s in Meridian. Veda Hale works the room, greeting
people and asking how they are. Veda has missed several meetings because she’s
been traveling. She launches into fast talking stories about her overseas raise,
the 80-mph winds and 50-foot seas she and her husband Carl encountered. “We
didn’t have any trouble getting into any of the restaurants because nobody was
eating. They were all barfing.”
Veda tries to
engage other members of the group. Some of the patients are lucid,others can barely talk. Veda tells the group she’s ashamed to say it, but
she tried to kill herself. She tells how much she’s enjoying her life now that
she’s had some therapy and realized she might as well appreciate what she has
and not worry about the future. I’ll tell you what; I don’t waste time not one
damn minute of the day. I enjoy everything. I was even up until 11 last night
doing laundry.
The twice-monthly gathering has proved invaluable for Veda
and Carl, Nancy and other members. Mostly, it’s inspiring Veda says of the
group. There’s a lot of acceptance in seeing other people who are dealing with
the same thing you are.
About 25,000 people in Idaho are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
But Joan Dashiell, the director of the greater Idaho region Alzheimer’s
Association, says that might not come close to the number of people who
actually have the disease. Whatever the real figure, the number is growing, and
the consequences are dire. The Alzheimer’s Association says the costs of the
disease will grow to at least $375 billion per year by the middle of the
century. It will break the health-care system in the U.S. if we don’t get a
handle on it. By 2050, there’ll be 14 million Americans with
Alzheimer’s.
Later in the year, Veda meets with Dashiell at the
Alzheimer’s Associations modest office on Orchard Street. They sit at a table,
discussing ways the association can better serve its clients. Dashiell tells
about a desperate woman whose husband has Alzheimer’s and who had called the association
that morning. “She wants to get into your group, she was crying
too hard to talk about it. But she could use a call. Give me her
number, I’ll call,” Veda says. Joan gives Veda some details about another
family struggling with a member with the disease.
“He hasn’t
accepted it” Veda says of the patient.
“Yes, he
has,” Joan says.
No he hasn’t. He has said he had but he’s saying “I have
Alzheimer’s, screw the world’ Acceptance is when you say. OK, I have
Alzheimer’s So now what can I do? What’s the good part of it? What’s The
difference is Joan not just sitting back and saying you have the disease but
saying ‘How can I have joy in my life?”
The ones that lose it the fastest are the ones who sit together,”.
Some of the fun things will never happen. In my first year
of retirement I had wanted to buy a mobile home and travel the United States
and Canada for a year. I wanted to teach my grandson to fly I had
wanted to putter around in small planes. That’s absolutely out to the question
now. On the day of the paint job Veda and Carl talked about
having seen “Macbeth” at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival the night before. “It was amazing” If I didn’t have Alzheimer’s I probably
never would have gone, maybe if Carl had nagged me.
The thing you have to do is be open to whatever comes only
“Veda said. “I never did like Shakespeare, but you have to squeeze the juice
out of every day.” In October I visited my daughter in Cincinnati. Thirty
minutes after I arrive at her house, I had to go to the hospital because of
chest pains and had double bypass surgery. Down in front of the television set
I said ‘Ok, I have Alzheimer’s I can give up, or I can get involved in what
turns me on.
I arrive for my support group.
About 17 Alzheimer’s patients and care givers meet in a windowless basement
room at Sty Luke’s in Meridian. I work the room, greeting people and asking how
they are. I missed several meetings because I’ve been traveling. I launch
into fast talking stories about my overseas raise, the 80-mph winds and 50-
foot seas, me and Carl encountered.
“We didn’t have
any trouble getting into any of the restaurants because nobody was eating.
They were all barfing.”
I try to
engage other members of the group. Some of the patients are lucid, others can
barely talk. I tell the group I’m ashamed to say it, but I tried to kill
myself. Now I’m enjoying his life now that I’ve had some therapy and realized
he might as well appreciate what he has and not worry about the future “I tell
you what, I don’t waste one damn minute of the day. I enjoy everything. The
twice-monthly gathering has proved invaluable for me Carl and other members.
Mostly, it’s inspiring There’s a lot of acceptance in seeing other people who
are dealing with the same thing you are.”
Later in the year, I meet with Dashiel at the
Alzheimer’s Associations modest office on Orchard Street. We sit at a table
discussing ways the association can better serve its clients. Dashiel tells
about a desperate woman whose husband has Alzheimer’s and who had called the
ass. that morning. She wants to get into your group, She was
crying too hard to talk about it. But she could use a call from you. Give me
her number, I’ll call. Joan givesd me some details about another
family struggling with a member with the disease.
The ones that lose
it the fastest are the ones who sit together.
Some of the fun things will never happen in my 1st year of
retirement I had wanted to buy a mobile home and travel the United States and
Canada for a year. I had wanted to teach my grandson to fly. I had wanted to
putter around in small planes. That’s absolutely out to the question now,
On the day of the paint job Carl and I talk about having
seen “Macbeth” at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival the night before it was
amazing. If I didn’t have Alzheimer’s I
probably would never have gone. I would have done it maybe if I had been
nagged.
The thing you have to do is be open to whatever comes. I
never did like Shakespeare, but you have to squeeze the juice out of every
day. In October I visited his daughter in Cincinnati. Thirty minutes after I
arrive at her house, I went to the hospital with chest pains and had double
bypass surgery down in front of the television set and say, ‘OK, I have
Alzheimer’s, you can give up, or you can get involved in whatever turns you on.
To be continued…
DR. KARL WALLACE D.D.S. To see more of my writings go to:
w.w.w.karlwallaceblog.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment