alzheimers news-billy

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-BILLY

thats not really his name
his name is more of what you would find in ireland
which he must be from based on his accent

we met billy not long after we moved in here
he would stand on his front patio
easily viewed across the courtyard from our condo
with his sporty hat on
dressed neatly
standing usually in the sun
he usually liked to talk to the women as they walked by
not in a harassing way though

later after watching for awhile
and
hearing what he was saying
i realized that some of it was gimmerish

i told my wife she after my observations
he has alzheimers disease you know

he lives with his wife
my guess they are in their 70s or early 80s
my impression is that he probably was like
a college professor or something like that
now
i dont know that for a fact
its just the thing that popped up into my brain
when i looked at him across the way
yep
a college professor
like my historian brother and writer brotherinlaw

so i at first sort of ignored him
when i walked by
it was gibberish he was saying
i just said hi and kept on going

then
one day i noticed he was out on the porch
with his hat on
his handy cane in hand
he looked to the left
he looked to the right
then
off he went
over toward us
then
he turned towards the street we live on
a busy one especially during traffic times
he then
turned left towards the bus stop and uptown
he went
maybe i thought he use to be a runner or track star
so
i waited
no wife came out
no caretaker came out

i
having read about and seen first hand
bad things happening to alzheimers patient who wander off
eg once my younger brother wandered off into the woods
near his home before he was eventually found
he was going hunting he said
something he loved to do

so
out the door i went
i turned left
there was billy way down the street
with cars zooming back and forth
he was trying hard to get into this locked car
looking around
then trying another door
so
i walked up to him
billy i said come lets go this way
he muttered some gibberish
he sort of sounded like my younger brother when he got worse
ok i said
its over this way
he looked at me
smiled that cockney smile
ok
off we went
back up the sidewalk
turned right towards our condo
the left towards his condo
there was his wife
all worried looking for billy

here he is i said
hes safe now

i thought
next time
he might not be though

it takes a village to help these caregiver folks out
24/7 duty is what they do

ive noticed folks sort of keep an eye out for him
hes always wandering next door to the condo next to him
then
a few minutes later i see the owner walking him back
to his place

there needs to be some type of system
that you can implant in someone like billy
that will send out warnings if he goes beyond some gps border
and
has a gps tracking system so one could look at a smartphone
to find their location
maybe one that could be implanted permanently
i will volunteer to be the first one to use it

i so worry about folks like billy
there is always a chance that things wont end well
a tragedy for him and his family

yep
i want to go first


mudslide update
here is a link to a lot of mudslide images
click here

16 killed including 4 kids
42 missing
a lot of well known actors musicians sports folks had to
run for their lives
their homes are destroyed
over a hundred total
hundreds more are damaged
our relative still cant get in to see their new home
in fact
everyone in the mudslide evacuation zone are being told to leave
and
expect to be gone for a couple of weeks or more
they are bringing in so much clean up equipment that folks
wandering around are getting in the way
theres no water no electricity no gas

the 101 hwy may be opened on mlk day
maybe
the beaches are all closed indefinitely
along the beaches are rolled up balls of metal that are
unrecognizable cars
the largest was this big ole hummer reduced to a ball of metal
there are boulders the size of bulldozers

amtrack finally opened
boats are taking folks from the santa barbara harbor the
30+ miles away to the ventura harbor
otherwise its a 4-5 hour track through mountainous roads to ventura
our trip to ucla will probably take 7-8 hours next week
i have to have my mri scan before i can get my next infusion
of the alzheimers experimental drug aducanumab
so if the 101 doesnt open by then
well
we are going to take us a little day trip
up and over the mountains down the valleys
down the 5 freeway then into los angeles
a sort of sight seeing tour for a day

thatcher update
hes starting to wake up
hes off the nitrous oxide and is having to take some morphine
for pain
during one waking up period his mom bent over and kissed him
his heart rate went up
his skin got all flushed
hes a mommas boy i guess
thanks for everyones continued support

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

which would i druther

WHICH WOULD I DRUTHER
thought this weekend about which i would druther have
huntingtons disease or alzheimers disease
that one to me is easy

this weekend i was able to witness first hand what its like in the
last stages of both diseases
both of these are diseases that are bad
they are similar
in that they are progressive fatal neurological diseases for which
there is no cure
the disease just keeps marching on no matter what is done
the patient suffers and the family and friends suffer with both
the caretaker gets stuck finally with all the decisions that need to
be made
some of those can be overwhelming
hopefully they are made a long time before the final stages are here
the caretaker ends up providing most of the the care and experiences
the suffering that occurs

one the body goes but the brain is left in tact
the other the brain goes but the body is left in tact

both diseases are sad ones
i know which i would not want to have and its not the one that
i may have now

and you

the organicgreen doctor

the caretaker, post talk, interview

THE CARETAKER
in this blog im always writing about the caretaker and
how important it is to remember the caretaker as they
get lost in the discussion of alzheimers disease sometimes

this article at this link is about the caretaker roll that carol ann
from the boggy creek farms took recently as she cared for
her 17+ year old chicken
she is such a witty writer

we have a 10+ old chicken called ms roundrock that we
are providing the caretaking for her
we like carol ann watch out for ms round rock as she is blind,
has grey feathers, probably had a stroke and flops down from
her roosting perch to eat

she has been moved from the head of the hens to the lowest
member of the group

thought of her when i read this article
caretaker role is rewarding sometimes

POST TALK
whew thats over with
gave a talk on telling my story (much of what is in this blog)
and about what is happening in alzheimers
the 40+ family physicians seemed interested and attentive
much better than at most presentations

(if you are a teacher and youve been to presentations to a
teachers group then you know what i mean)

they asked a lot of good questions after the talk
remember everyone is worried about getting the big a
these docs are interested because as i told them the big a
will become a primary care disease in the future as the
numbers will be too large for specialists to care for

these were the points of the talk
put a face on the disease-me and others eg pat summitt my buddy
early diagnosis and treatment is important
dont forget the caretaker
it will be a primary care disease
how to work the patients symptoms up and what treatments
and preventative things are available now
whats happening in research now

hopefully the talk was helpful and hopeful it will end up
helping some patient to get an early diagnosis and
be able to get early treatment

INTERVIEW
todays the day
get interviewed by the newspaper today
about this blog and the advocacy for alzheimers
more about it tomorrow
will post a link when its published

the organicgreen doctor