[Granville-Hough] 31 Jan 2009 - Alzheimer's Events

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:33:39 -0800
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: Alzheimer's events -31 Jan 2009

Alzheimer's Events.

    One of the greatest actions of Ronald Reagan's life was when he and
his family publicly declared that he had developed Alzheimer's disease.
His action made it possible for thousands of people to admit that they,
too, suffered from this malady.  Some of its manifestations that have
become almost standard are (1) the desire to go home; (2) the inability
to dress one's self; and (3) the failure to recognize family members.
As some of you know, my wife Carol (Steckelberg) Hough, suffered two
debilitating strokes, the second one requiring brain surgery to remove
the excess fluid which had accumulated.  At the time of the second
stroke, we had been married over 50 years.  Her behavior after the
second stroke gradually adjusted to where she could do most things, but
her mental reactions were sometimes unexplainable.  It gradually became
clear that she gave the classical manifestations of Alzheimer's disease.
    One of the the first things I noted was that each afternoon she
wanted to "go home," saying her parents had always told her when the sun
got low that she should always get home before sunset.  It upset her for
me to explain that her parents had died years before, and that we were
in her home.   She would then cry and say: "Why didn't you tell me?" It
did no good to explain that she had been at her mother's funeral, and
that her father had died about 45 years earlier when we were stationed
in Panama.  I worked out the solution of making a trip to "go home."  We
would walk around several blocks in Leisure World, then return to our
condominium and I would make a big point of pointing out pictures of our
children, our furniture she had selected, her books and clothes; and
then suggest I make supper and she could watch a children's program.
This worked mostly but one day she eluded me and left before I noticed
she was not watching TV.  I then went around the block looking in all
directions, and there was no Carol.  All I could do was to call Leisure
World Security to warn the gates not to let her out, because she would
be completely lost and in danger on the streets.  The LW Security found
her about a mile away, completely lost, but she answered to her name.
He brought her home, but she denied ever seeing me or being in that
condominium.  I was able to produce both her ID and mine and prove to
the Security that I was the proper husband and that this place was her
home.  I asked my upstairs neighbor, who knew of Carol's condition, to
identify me, which she did and Carol gradually relaxed and probably
forgot about the whole episode.
    When I talked to other caretakers about the "going home" impulse,
most had had more serious incidents than I.  Sometimes it took hours to
find the person, and some victims got on buses or trains and wound up
far away. These serious cases were frequently reported in the press as
amnesia, but they were actually an Alzheimer manifestation.
    The problem of dressing one's self is something we have to teach
children, step by step.  Nearly everyone can remember the trauma of
learning to tie shoe strings.  The Alzheimer's victim loses those
abilities one by one, until they have some emergency which forces the
caretaker to take over.  Doctor appointments are hard to keep, because
the person to be seen cannot get ready, and will not accept help.  We
stopped going to church morning services and attended the service on
late Saturday afternoons.  It took Carol all day to get dressed.  One
day we had an appointment for Carol to see a foot doctor to trim her
toenails and treat a toe infection.  Carol insisted on wearing panty
hose and gave me quite a lecture that she wore her clothes her way, and
I could wear mine my way:: just leave her alone.  I told her she would
have to take the panty hose off so the foot doctor could do his work on
her toes, and she just got angry.  Then , when we got to the doctor's
office, she absolutely refused to take off the panty hose, and we had to
leave without treatment.
    At some point the caretaker realizes that he or she must watch and
help the Alzheimer's victim in  much the same way you have to care for a
child who has just learned to walk.  You have to know where they are at
all times, they must be kept out of trouble, they must be taken to the
bathroom, they must be bathed, dressed,  fed, and helped to do most
things.  Every parent learns how quickly a new walker can scoot out of
sight.
    Then there comes a point where the Alzheimer's victim does not
recognize family members.  A particular incident I remember very well
came one afternoon after naps.  (Everyone in Leisure World takes
afternoon naps, and Alzheimer's caretakers desperately need them.)   As
I woke up, I noticed Carol was sitting up in bed looking at me with an
intense stare.  She said, "Who are You?"  I realized she was in another
time or world and just said: "I am your husband, Granville Hough, and we
have been married over fifty years."  She said, with absolute emphasis
and conviction: "Oh, no, you are NOT my husband.  My husband is
Granville Hough, and he is a young Captain in the Regular Army.  You are
just some OLD MAN who claims to be my husband."  Of course, she had the
last part right.