Memories should last a lifetime

We all have heard about Alzheimer’s disease, we all know it is a disease that affects the memory but it is so much more than that. It was not until my family experienced it did I truly understand the extent of the disease.

I lived though and watched my grandmother whom I called “mom-mom” go from a happy, smart and caring woman to a person who could not even remember how to get out of bed. She was trapped inside of her own body and her brain no longer functioned.

I was my grandmother’s first grandchild whom she loved and adored. Before she got sick we loved to play card games together and go on walks around her neighborhood. On days when I was sick and could not go to school, she would be the one to take care of me.

I was fairly young when my mom-mom began to forget things and it only got worse over time. As I grew up my mom-mom’s disease got worse and my family eventually realized this was not a typical case of short-term memory loss. It was Alzheimer’s disease.

Watching a person I loved so much gradually be taken away from my family and me was one of the hardest things we have endured in our lives.

The worst part of our journey was knowing that there was no hope. When someone in a family is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it is not a battle that can be fought. There is never hope of remission or being cured. it is just a long painful journey that worsens over time.

The disease affected not only my grandmother but it affected our whole family, mentally, physically and financially.

A recent study that was conducted by The New England Journal of Medicine, titled “Monetary Costs of Dementia in the United States,” examined 856 individuals to determine the prevalence and cost of dementia in men and women over the age of 51.

The researchers at The New England Journal of Medicine found that “the prevalence of dementia rises substantially with increasing age. Among individuals ages 71-74, there is a prevalence of dementia of 2.8%; among those ages 80-84 there was a 13% prevalence; and the rate rises substantially, to 38.5%, among individuals over 90.”

At only 67 years of age my grandmother started showing signs of early-onset dementia.

Having Alzheimer’s disease or any other form of dementia does not just cost you your memory it also costs a lot more money to live.

According to the research, “dementia leads to a total annual

societal cost of $41,000 to $56,000 per case, with a total cost of $157 billion to $215 billion nationwide in 2010.”

The study estimated the total cost of healthcare purchased in 2010 to have been only $109 billion. Caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease continually puts a huge financial strain on many families including mine.

The disease was costing my grandmother her ability to live a full and happy life. Each and every day was becoming more of a struggle.

Eventually it was becoming obvious that my grandmother could no longer care for herself. My aunt wound up quitting her job to become my grandmother’s full-time caregiver. Money that was saved up in my grandfather’s retirement fund had to be used to care for my grandmother.

Luckily my grandmother was covered under Medicare but that that only paid some of the bills. My grandfather wound up having to pay extra for a doctor who would make house calls because my grandmother’s disease progressed to the point where she was no longer ambulatory.

The point that she forgot me and and all those who loved her was extremely hard to accept. Having to reintroduce ourselves to her every time we made a visit never got easier. Not long after that, there became the day where she could no longer talk or communicate with us.

The only thing my family and any family going through this situation can really do is enjoy every day they have with their loved one before it is too late. There are currently medications on the market that ease the effects of the disease but nothing that gives the person any real hope that they will actually beat the disease.

It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, one in every three senior citizen dies with the disease or some other form of dementia. It kills more than breast and prostate cancer combined and it can not be slowed, stopped or prevented. Why is Alzheimer’s disease so overlooked?

According to ALZ.org, over 5 million people in America are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease and that number is expected to rise to almost 7.1 million by the year 2025. Every 66 seconds someone in the United States develops the disease. Think about it this way, in about the time it takes you to read this article approximately four people will have developed Alzheimer’s.

My mom-mom passed away on Jan. 12, 2010 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for many years.

After her passing, my family wanted to do something to make a change. We decided to be a part of the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Philadelphia. Thousands of people from Philadelphia and the surrounding areas gather together each November to raise money and awareness to end Alzheimer’s Disease.

People battling the disease, family and friends who lost loved ones, current caregivers and people who just want to
support the cause walk an approximate 3-mile route in Philadelphia which includes walking through Citizens Bank Park.

After years of feeling helpless the walk is my family’s way to stand up against the disease and honor our loved one’s battle. I hope that eventually more light will be shed upon this silent disease through conversations and events like the walk so that a cure will become a reality and no grandchild will ever have to lose their grandparent the way I lost my mom-mom.