Personal Narrative: The Fight To End Alzheimer's

Jessica Gwinn is a freelance writer and creative consultant who, for the past 12 years, has been primarily focused on clients in the medical, biotech, fiber optics and software fields. Previously, she worked with the Delaware Valley Alzheimer’s Association, managing all the event planning for Philadelphia’s annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s (formerly The Memory Walk®). Jessica was very close to her grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s. This article is directed to patients and caregivers.

My grandfather's dementia had gotten worse with age. He had developed a habit of walking out of the house randomly. They lived alone in their apartment in Pakistan. One day he walked out the same way and did not return for a long time. We were later informed that he had tripped on his way and broke his hip. After surgery my grandmother called me, I was living abroad at that time, and said, "I don't think he will recover, he is in a lot of pain" I assured her otherwise. She said, "I can't live without him. I don’t want him to die." The helplessness and grief in her voice was agonizing. She would often call and cry, it became tough overtime as I was abroad and not fully aware of his progress. I am her oldest grandchild, and she treats me like

Alzheimer’s is a disease in the brain that affects a person’s memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the most common form of dementia and is common in adults older than 65. More than five million Americans are being affected by Alzheimer’s at this moment. Alzheimer’s comes in three stages; early, middle, and advanced. The disease is caused by the shrinking of the brain due to many risk factors and genetics.

On the contrary, I understand those who can't afford to take care of their parents or kin because they don't have the means or the space to incorporate caring for another person, but all the same, if the table was turned, they would want someone to care for them personally and not a stranger. Looking around the assisted living home, I noticed everyone smoked, wore socks and went to sleep less than five minutes of sitting down. As I waved goodbye and took some photos, I felt sorry for all the people I left behind, who yearned for loved ones to come visit them and take them away, back to their “rightful” homes. But being that I was just a young, intern-news-writer, who hasn't made it to National Geographic yet, it wasn't much I could do except

The first resident I decided to pay close attention to was Henry Dreher. Henry relied greatly on his aides. He barley spoke and recognized his daughter, he kept his head down and hands crossed. His daughter had informed us that he has been in the nursing home for about ten years. He was very quiet and kept himself isolated even when around many people. Henry suffered from seizures and unfortunate was not able to be cared for by his wife. Henry was described as very lively when his daughter was a child, he was a man of the church and loved gospel music. Finally, when introduced the music, he began to light up, his eyes widened, began to sing, hum, and rock to the music. He then began to remember his past and had the ability to tell stories and share memories. I chose to focus on Henry because he reminded me of a resident I work with. Currently, I work closely with a man named John, was in fact a father. He loves gospel music and lights up

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose!”-Dr. Seuss. College is a choice where you chose what you want to do in life. How you want to direct yourself in succeeding in that goal. You might be someone that doesn’t chose to go to college, which is whatever because college isn’t for everyone. College brings us new opportunities in life. I was very interested in Augustana University during the college fair because they have sports, many majors, study abroad, and more!

I was 16 when I learned what it meant to be dead. I had known of it before, but I didn’t really know death -- I was too young to really understand. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to ward off the waves from washing away my grandparents when they were in Mexico, and I was here. We were separated by oceans of land so our contact was limited. And the oceans only got deeper as I realized that Alzheimer's meant something beyond just memory loss. It meant I watched my Abuelito’s glassy eyes lead to an empty attic, and knew I was waiting for a tsunami to take it over like it had the rest of him.

Cassandra, I found the Nursing Home Compare link to be informative, and I wish I had been aware of this website when we had to place my mother in a nursing home. I compared the three nursing homes I have worked at, or my mother was a resident of and the results were surprising to me.

It was faded red, and slow: on Volkswagen time. Others rushed impatiently. It said, “Speed limit will do. No hurry.”

Alzheimer’s affects more than five million Americans and is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, and it causes more deaths than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined (Alzheimer’s Association®, 2016). The number of people with Alzheimer’s grows daily and is expected to continue to increase tremendously over the years to come. So what is Alzheimer’s and what are the effects it has on one’s life?

Parents are protective of their children and at times tend to monitor their child’s every move to make sure they don’t get injured. At times, as kids, we may see our parents’ vigilance as them being overprotective until tragedy strikes. Being the youngest of my family and a girl indicated all eyes were and are on me. At times children assume they know more than their parents until the unexpected occurs. I was once in this situation when I was 10 years old I decided to clown around while my Mom was asleep and completely shattered my wrist which then led to much worse. Although that experience wasn’t thrilling I was able to gain purpose from it. I learned to be patient, remain faithful and be grateful!

My parents own assisted living facilities and nursing homes so being around the sick, the terminally ill, and the elderly has always been a part of my life. I have spent a lot of my time working for my family’s business and learning to cope with sickness. My granny had numerous heart attacks and other serious health problems. When my granny went into kidney failure I felt helpless because I was unable to help her. All I could offer at that moment want conversations, and making sure in her last moments in life she knew how loved she was and still is. I now understand what many families face on a daily basis and at the moment, I knew I wanted to go into medicine so that I may help the sick and their families. Being around the doctors that treated

She received the reply; Lashonda’s hand shook as she held the letter retrieved from the mailbox. What news would it hold? Would she or happy? Either way she would go to college. Other colleges had accepted her and offered full scholarships. Still she wanted a full scholarship to the top rated Trelawny University with the excellent neuroscience program. A scientist at heart and a budding neuroscientist, she yearned to take her place in a laboratory participating in research to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. A fourteen-year-old boy had designed a test for pancreatic cancer, why should not she dream.

‘Where is your ID?’ were the first words spoken to me as I walked in the doors at my new job at the local nursing home. I responded back to the rude lady who ran the front desk that it was my first day, and I had not yet received an ID. As soon as I walked away I thought to myself what did I just get myself into by applying here, I brushed it off and kept looking around for my best friend Ceairra. She also worked there and was the reason I got the job in the first place. I was miserable at my job prior to this one and she had told me to apply at Central Baptist Village, she said it was a great place and I would enjoy working there. After working there for more than half a year I realized sacrificing my happiness for a paycheck was not worth

When I walked into the bowling alley to conduct interview and explain to Walt my purpose of this assignment, I had no doubt in my mind things would be smooth. I had done several interview before and never had doubts, barriers or skepticism before, during or after. I assumed that getting personal with someone this age would be simple thinking they would be happy to tell what that have done for over seven decades. Upon meeting Walt, I shook his hand and knew he would be somewhat of a challenge per his body language a greeting comment. His greeting to me was, “Evening, life interview huh, I’ll see what all I can tell you. (Gladden. personal communication. November 21, 2017.).” My initial assumption was wrong and I went in thinking this man was going divulge me his personal experience no hesitation because of my professionalism, slight personal connections of interest and military connection.