Meet Helen's Story

The memoir went exactly how I thought it would be. Bette Ann Markowitz’s situation of taking care of a parent who has Alzheimer is very common; having an aging parent who can no longer fend for themselves. Markowitz is not an only child so she had to constantly consult her sibling on “what is the best option” (Moskowitz41),

‘A retired teacher, Betty (65 years old), was diagnosed with Dementia. She lived at home with her husband Arthur (70 years old) who had been caring for her for several years. When she was diagnosed, No information was given to the couple. They had no relatives that they could rely on around them for support.

Illnesses like Alzheimer's disease make it difficult for those who want to provide supportive care at the end of life to know what is needed. Because people with advanced dementia can no longer communicate, they cannot share their concerns. Is Uncle Bert refusing food because he is not hungry or because he's confused? Why does Grandma Ruth seem agitated, is she in pain and needs medication to relieve it, but can't tell you. As these conditions progress, they also obstruct efforts to provide emotional or spiritual comfort. How can you let Grandpa know how much his life has meant to you? How do you make peace with your mother if she no longer knows who you are? Someone who

Did you hear the words that haunted me as well? Did a close family of yours get diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a detrimental disease that burdens not only the patient, but the family as well? What is Alzheimer’s exactly? According to What is Alzheimer’s Disease? Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment, published on Medical News Today, Alzheimer’s is “… a neurological disorder in which the death of brain cells causes memory loss and cognitive decline” (Macgill). Now that you know what you and are going against, what are you going to be doing next? When my family first found out that my grandma had Alzheimer’s, we were faced with a decision that would affect my grandma for the rest of her life. Though we knew that we would eventually have to place my grandma into a nursing home, we had to decide whether we wanted to place my grandma into a nursing home or take care of my grandma ourselves when it wasn’t necessary to place her in a nursing home. There were pros and cons for both decisions that made the two decisions very difficult to choose from. My mom, who would be the main caregiver of my grandma, eventually decided that it would be best for my grandma to be in the hands of her family and opted against professional help. Making the

My grandma Linda was her only daughter. I spent weeks at Ma’s house in Holstein, Iowa. Christmas for the Grell’s was always hosted at Ma’s house. When I was young she would take me swimming at the communities pool, and ice cream afterwards. Ma’ was an expert cook, her favorite summer dish was fried chicken. She was nearly famous for that fried chicken. In September of 2012 Doctors discovered a tumor in Ma’s liver. Ma’s children paid for an assisted living home in Sioux City, Iowa. She pasted away March 21, 2013. Leading up to March the relationship between my mother and her parents decrepitated. My grandparents refused to come to my high school graduation.

The impact that Alzheimer’s disease has on the patient’s family and caregivers is really devastating. It must be very hard for the patient’s family to see what their loved one is going through. They may feel grief and lose. It is a very unfortunate thing for both the patient and the family to live life with the loss of memory. They may have had so many good memories in the past but due to this disease patient may lose all those memories. It is very hard for family and caregivers to see the patient struggling with doing daily activities due to memory impairment. Sometimes it can be overwhelming for family members and caregiver to manage time because they have to give extra attention and dedication. They need to make sure that the patient is

Dementia has caused challenges and heartache for many families I have met. A loved one who no longer recognizes you could be difficult to cope with. I have had clients who do not know their own children and are unaware of their surroundings. Even though they have lived in the same home for over 30 years; it is now a strange new place to explore. Closets, bedrooms, and garages that were once frequented are now entered with caution and wonder. Everyday items are puzzles just waiting to be solved. As the disease progresses the harder it is to grasp the present. The past, like an old friend, beckons and comes to life bringing former friends and relatives of long ago, to the surface. Stories of days gone by are repeated and relived over and

Helen Thomas was born, on August 4, 1920, and died on July 20, 2013. Although she was born in Winchester, Kentucky, Thomas was predominantly raised in Detroit ,Michigan where her family moved when she was four. Thomas was born the seventh of nine children to Lebanese immigrants George and Mary Thomas. Even though, neither one of Thomas’ parents could read or write Thomas was headed towards a different path in life.

Throughout this semester in our family and aging course we have talked about caring for elderly adults. Alzheimer’s has become one of our focused topics. Over time we have discussed: spousal caregiving, the grief process, and we’ve talked about caring for adult children with mental illness. In the book the author’s mother has Alzheimer’s, and she decided that her taking care of her mother was a bit much, so she took her to a nursing home. The author still hasn’t come to terms with her mother’s death, and the way she handled her time being has a different way of dealing with her grief.

Her name is Sue. One day, Sue was driving and forgot how to operate the foot pedals while driving, resulting in a minor car crash. Everyone in the car turned out fine but out of fear, the family ran Sue to the hospital. A little later, her family found out Sue had Alzheimer’s. Sue’s whole family was affected by her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, recently she has forgotten how old she is, and who her family members are. Sue can’t distinguish her daughter from her granddaughter. Its very difficult to see the pain it causes my friend when she tells me about how her grandmother couldnt recognize who was in front of

This reflection focuses on a 75 year old woman whom will be referred to as MS. Her physical characteristics include her height of 5 feet and 7 inches, she weighs approximately 160 pounds. MS is physically capable of caring for herself and others if necessary. MS recently went through grieving after a significant loss, however she seems emotionally stable. MS continues to have a strong relationship with her community and frequently engages in time spent with her close friends and relatives. MS is doing well developmentally, she has reached the integrity versus despair stage. After some struggling times MS has gained integrity, she believes she has lived a full life. Although, MS is struggling with the early stages of dementia. MS is very spiritually sound, she attends a service at least once a

What would you do if you or a family member was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease? More than 5 million senior citizens in America are living with Alzheimer’s. In 2002, my grandfather was diagnosed with this condition. It has changed his life and my family’s lives ever since. Taking care of him is a bit challenging when you don’t understand the disease. Alzheimer’s is a progressive illness that is a type of dementia. Dementia is the decline in mental ability that is serious enough to affect daily life habits. Alzheimer’s causes memory loss, and problems with thinking, and with behavior (Alzheimer’s, p.1).

In February of 2000, I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's disease. She was diagnosed with the disease just less than two years prior to her death. Throughout that time, I watched changes in my grandmother that made her seem like an entirely different woman to me. She gradually began losing her short-term memory and we began to see signs of her long-term memory degrading too. It began to get harder and harder to take her out into public without being afraid of what would happen next. Her emotions would fluctuate with the changing of each minute it seemed. Physically she became weaker and weaker and would often scare us with falling while she would be walking. Eventually she had to be moved into the

I found the emotions displayed in this week’s reading to be very diverse and contrasting. On one hand we had the Iliad, which displayed a lot of feeling of anger and contempt. Heavy use of exclamatory sentences in addition to descriptions of physical emotions depicted a sense of acrimony and annoyance throughout the scenes. In addition, I found the topic of love to be at the forefront of displaying these various emotions. In the Encomium of Helen love is seen as something with great power whether positive or negative. Lastly in the Iliad love is depicted through the strong love present family relations. I found it very interesting how the desires and elements of love in the pieces had an effect on depicting emotion throughout the different

Here a quotation by author and political activist Helen Keller basically says that character cannot develop without going through some sort of hardship or experience and with that comes suffering and afterwards success is achieved & vision is cleared. I honestly believe Helen Keller’s assertion was correct when it comes to trial and suffering and the development of character whether it be positively or negatively. I can connect this with personal experience and those who I look up to as role models. Powerful leaders from history can make this quotation true as well.