The dreaded "A" word. I have known that Walter has been declining cognitively, especially in the past few months. However, today was the first time that any of his healthcare providers actually came out and said that he has Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. The hospice nurse came to see him while I was there. She talked to me about how his physical health is declining and how his memory is also rapidly declining. He forgets to take his medicine regularly even though Mary sets it out for him every morning. The nurse said that one day she came and he had forgotten to eat his breakfast which Mary had put on the table for him. I know that last week when I came, he had not taken his medicine until I noticed it and gave it to him. He is having more and more difficulty carrying on a conversation because he can’t remember what he has said earlier in the conversation. I kept hoping that it was just a side effect of his congestive heart failure (CHF), his brain not getting enough oxygen. The nurse said that CHF does not cause this type of memory loss that his Alzheimer’s had most likely entered another phase of the disease. I told her that no one had ever said to me that he had Alzheimer’s. In fact, the last time I took him to his primary care physician, I told the MD that I had noticed a significant decrease in his cognitive abilities. The MD performed a short test in the office, asking him things like what day is it, what did you have to eat for dinner yesterday, to repeat three words that he told him earlier in the test, and to retell a short story he read. Walter got several questions wrong and some right. MD said that he didn’t do too badly on the test, it was almost in normal range, nothing out of the ordinary for someone his age. He never mentioned Alzheimer’s or dementia. The nurse said she was almost positive she had read in his medical record that he had Alzheimer’s. She said the MD may just not have wanted to say something in front of Walter. I think it would be nice if he had told me, however.
When I related this story to Daddy when I got home, he said that Jackie was told he had Alzheimer’s a number of years ago, but refused to believe that he had it. He was taking a medication for it for a while, according to Daddy. I don’t know how that got dropped.
His mind has been so important to him. He is a very brilliant man. He has an engineering degree from U.S. Military Academy. He rose to rank of Colonel in the army and commanded many troops in war and at home. He has a PhD in political science and taught the University of Alabama for a number of years. He reads constantly, and not fluffy stuff like I read. He reads classics and biographies and history books. He has always encouraged me and my sister and our children to get as much education as we can, “It is never time or money wasted. It is something no one can ever take away from you.” For a disease to take this away from him seems unusually cruel.
I never knew that someone with Alzheimer’s retains their long-term memory while losing the short-term memory. He can do some amazing things remembering events from 60 or even 80 years ago, but he can’t remember if he has gotten his mail today.
This may sound terrible, but I hope his CHF gets him before the Alzheimer’s gets too advanced. I would much rather see his physical health fail than his mind.
He turns 90 September 21, 2011. I want to give him a big party. I hope he will remember it.
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