My
mom was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s close to five years ago. She hosted
Christmas Eve dinner every year since as long as I can recall. My families
along with my two brothers gathered at my folk’s house each year. Including our kids and their spouses we total over 20! She does
all the preparing. Being of Italian decent that includes a variety of pasta and
seafood dishes. 2007 Christmas Eve preparation became increasingly difficult as
she just couldn’t keep up with all that was required. She became very
frustrated and depressed. That is when we took her for tests and
she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She went from an incredibly smart
and independent senior to one that has difficultly doing and recalling the
simplest day to day activities. She was an avid member of America Online until
the age of 80 sending emails daily to her 9 grandchildren who were off at
college. She would check the
results of my NYRR’s
races online and before I made it home would call me on my cell to congratulate
me on my time!
It was especially difficult for my Dad who was 88 years old , since she literally did everything for him from “soup to nuts”: the check book, the savings accounts, the birthday gifts, retirement planning, cooking, housecleaning, you name it she did it.
Last May 9th , 2011 my Dad passed away. She was never able to fully grieve the passing of her life partner of 67 years (I suppose it is a matter of opinion if that was a positive or not) Although her condition worsened considerably after his passing
That’s where my story changed, from May ’11 – Feb ’12 my brother and I become her primary caretaker on weekends. As we at first were only able to find 24/5 (Mon AM– Sat AM) care for her . He stayed with her on Saturday’s, I on Sunday’s (We now have 24/7 care for her). Each week for 24 hours I saw how Alz affects a person. For a while at about at 5:00 PM time she insisted that she has to go “home” to help her mother cook dinner, to a point where we needed to convince her she is home. She was reverting to her early adult years when her and her sister (who also is afflicted with this awful illness) helped my Grandmother prepare dinner for her three siblings as my Grandmother was a young widow at the age of 49. Other times I would awaken in the middle of the night to find her fully dressed as she has no understanding the time of day
. While it was challenging dealing with the Alz related symptoms I appreciated the time we spent, just her and I . When I took off for work in NJ each Monday I had a good sense that I was in some way paying her back for all the love and support she and my dad provided to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren over the years She continues to amaze me with her incredible positive attitude and sense of humor. Although the sickness is slowly eroding her personality and now there are times when she is not herself. I believe the medication she is on has helped. While there is no cure it has slowed the process.
That is my connection to Alz and why I’m involved with the R2R Team. I can see the benefits that research has provided and how much the support services assist families in a similar situation as mine Another reason I run for ALZ is to have the honor to be associated with such an amazing group of people from the runners to the coaches and support team .This is my third year with the team and just doesn’t get old! I get old, but the positive experience of being a member of the R2R NYC Marathon team never will J
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