Daily Archives: July 29, 2007

This morning at 8am (as you can tell by the oodles of postings) I finished my first Blogathon.  My sponsors donated $70 for the local chapter of the Peoria Alzheimer’s Association and a HUGE thank you to them!

This was, as I said, my first Blogathon and I will definitely be doing it again next year.  I’ve got a few idea’s to drum up more sponsors next year and some better idea’s on how to pace myself a little better.  I vaguely remember 4am through 8am but I was pretty disoriented and I remember just stumbling around trying to put two and two together on my posts (so please forgive me if they make no sense, I don’t have the energy yet to go back and check them all).

I loved being able to tell stories about my Grandpa and I hope you all enjoy(ed) reading them.

Now.. I think it’s time for another nap!

When Grandpa was 27 he had a heart attack. He was told not to walk up steps and to be very careful of his health. But there was no sign ever of there being a heart problem and it was very possibly misdiagnosed.

When Dad arrived on the afternoon of Grandpa’s death, Grandpa who had one time weighed 350 lbs he had dropped to a weight of approx. 130 lbs and he had no longer any conscious communication with people for several weeks and had lost the ability to swallow. As he lay there and we knew the time was close, Dad could watch him as his breathing slowed and finally stopped – but his heart continued to beat 2 minutes past his last breath. Slowed, became inconsistent and finally he slipped away from this earth to that blessed reward for which he longed.

For someone who had a weak heart, it was full of love and immensely strong. Dad says, the doctors were wrong.

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Thank you for sticking with me through these past 24 hours. It’s been somewhat rocky and rough – but ultimately rewarding. A huge thanks to all of my sponsors:

Auntie

“Sindier”

Feral Not Homeless

Elizabeth.

And now… good night all!

I’ve been taking 30 minute naps – and my sister Rose has jumped in to help me get through these last few hours by giving me phone calls and doing general cheerleading and encouraging. Thank you Rose!

Kathy left me a comment and her site is just too good not to share.  Please visit her here! God bless, Kathy.

(By the way – can you tell my last several posts have been made with me dog dead tired and unable to think? hah.)

We’re almost there!

I spoke with my dad last night and he gave me some of his thoughts on experiencing the disease first hand through his father.

Observations from a son’s perspective (and pastor)

Alzheimer’s, when first diagnosed and told to a person who is still able to understand what it is, instills fear in the heart of the person who has been diagnosed because they have an understanding of what it means both to themselves and their family.

In the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s, that consciousness as they remember the fear of the diagnosis and of their failing mental ability brings in to the person a measure of anger and many people who, in that early stage of Alzheimer’s, when they begin to lose the full awareness of their situation, anger is readily seen.

There is also, in all people, a desire to hide fear and insecurity and so they, many times, will try to play the game as if they know and understand you, but they are completely clueless as to what they are really doing. There eventually comes a point when the mask of fear and insecurity and the desire to be accepted is completely gone and you begin to see the true nature and character of the individual. At that point, some people are truly angry and insufferable, demanding. Some people become timid and childish and selfish. In Grandpa’s case he became, eventually, gentle, impish and fun-loving. The gentle giant of a man’s true character was finally seen.

Ultimately he became almost comatose, almost completely unresponsive to the surroundings in which he existed, however, if there ever was a response it would be to the singing of a Christian Hymn and to something that would spark that sense of humor such as the song.

The Alzheimer’s Association is working to improve the quality of care for people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. To make sure that dementia care is safe and respectful for every individual, our Campaign for Quality Care has taken the lead in three ways.

Grandpa and his twin brother, Grandpa Joe, lived out in the country in the Ozarks when they were younger. One form of amusement, I’m told, that they had was going out to the dirt road and digging a large trench in the road, just beneath one hilly spot. Then they’d sit back and watch the old Model T’s and Model A’s come chugging along and bounce up, down and up and down as they hit that one spot.

Apparently this caused a bit of a problem, because when Grandpa told the story – the Sheriff made a special trip out to his house to talk to his dad about the trench.

“Mr. Presley,” the Sheriff said, “could you keep your boys from digging anymore trenches in the road?”.

Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s. But drug and non-drug treatments may help with both cognitive and behavioral symptoms.

Researchers are looking for new treatments to alter the course of the disease and improve the quality of life for people with dementia.

Grandpa liked to poke along when he drove – he would get there when he got there. He would poke along between Morton and Washington along the backroads.

One day, some boys were behind him – and he was going along slowly in his pick-up and they were in a hurry. They started to honk their horn at Grandpa and were causing a general ruckus, shouting, cursing and generally making a nuisance of themselves.
Now, it was wintertime – and those boys sped around Grandpa and zoomed off down the road and about five minutes later he found their car in a ditch.

Now they were a bit embarrassed at seeing this older man pulling over who they had mocked and jeered at just moments before. But Grandpa took it all in stride, approached them and offered to help them out.

They apologized to him sincerely, and promised to never mock and jeer another older man again on the road. They were unable to comprehend the kindness my Grandpa showed them by freely helping them out – even after the rough time they had given him.

101 Activities to do with an Alzheimer’s patient.

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(Sidenote: So.. so .. sleepy)

Back in the middle 60′s when Grandpa’s younger sister was planning on getting married, grandpa decided to take her fiance fishing one night in the neighbors farm pond down in the Ozarks. This was an excursion which was unknown to the farmer who owned the pond and it included, to the best of grandpa’s recollection, Grandpa Joe. The manner in which the fishing was accomplished was not with a normal hook and line, but rather with a feigning net – which is not exactly… kosher.

On the trip over they began to explain to the 18 year old future bridegroom of the large fish that could be found in the pond, as well as the very large snapping turtles which were large enough to remove a toe or any other appendage which might be available. Once arriving at the pond they stripped down to their skivvies and the future bridegroom was assigned the duty of going to the middle of the farm pond to drag the net. As the story was told, somewhere about half-way across the farm pond the future bridegroom swore he stepped on a large rock that actually began to move. Guess what he thought! (Disclaimer: No turtles were harmed in the making of this post.  Instead, what he actually felt was a large rock)

From what the two future brother-in-laws described, was next to a miracle as they saw their future brother-in-law, Wayne, who was quite large to begin with, speed up and begin to appear to be walking on top of the water as he raced toward the edge of the pond, swearing there was a snapping turtle that was going to remove his feet.

The following morning outside of the house, they did find a large, galvanized washing tub filled with an assortment of carp and goldfish which were anywhere from 12 – 24″ long.