Published: Sun, November 24, 2013 @ 12:10 a.m.
RELATED: How to help Alzheimer's patients cope with the holidays[1]
By Denise Dick | denise_dick@vindy.com[2] [3]
AUSTINTOWN
Barry Claycomb knows the day is coming when he won’t recognize his loved ones and no longer will be able to live at home, but he doesn’t dwell on it.
“I don’t really think about the future,” said Barry, 69. “I take it one day at a time.”
But JoAnn, his wife of 48 years, says Barry is slipping.
In May 2009, Barry was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, and this marks the fourth year the Claycombs have talked to The Vindicator about Barry’s disease and its effect on their lives.
The Alzheimer’s Association reports that more than 5 million Americans have the disease, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
Barry knows he’s faltering.
When the couple plays cards at the Austintown Senior Center, he struggles to keep score.
“Usually everyone else will add them for me,” he said.
That makes him feel dumb — even though he knows that he isn’t.
“It’s very frustrating,” Barry said.
Sometimes he gets angry.
When that happens, he takes time to cool off, excusing himself from the table. JoAnn says that sometimes he’ll recognize a face but struggle to recall the name or identify from where he knows the person.
They spent much of this summer at a camp in Pennsylvania near where Barry grew up. It was their refuge. Barry would walk the dog, always taking a cellphone with him so JoAnn could reach him if she thought he was gone too long.
It was a needed respite for both of them, allowing them to get away from their day-to-day worries.
“We just had the best summer,” JoAnn said.
For the most part, doctors say Barry is doing well.
“We’ve all seen a difference this year though,” said JoAnn, 67.
He gets tired more easily, walks more slowly.
“He gets angry more, and Barry never got angry, or if he did he controlled it,” she said.
She’s learned that often that anger signifies Barry is not feeling well.
Last August, doctors put two stents in his heart. What worried JoAnn as much as the procedure was Barry’s difficulty in articulating the problem. They were on their way to an evening of shopping and dinner when Barry complained he didn’t feel well.
First he said he had a headache. Then, his neck hurt until finally he told her it felt like something was sitting on his chest.
“I turned the car around and took him right to the hospital,” she said.
The doctors told her they couldn’t understand what Barry was trying to tell them.
“I told them to talk to my secretary,” Barry said, pointing to JoAnn.
Progression in Barry’s disease means changes for JoAnn, too.
Barry stayed in the hospital about five days. Rather than staying with him while he slept, JoAnn returned home to sleep and focused on things she had to get done during the day.
Seeing Barry deteriorate made her think about a time when he’ll no longerSFlbknow who she is and worse.
“I need to know that I have another part of my life to keep going,” she said.
The senior center has been a godsend, JoAnn says. She never misses the Monday painting class. Barry usually plays bingo while she paints.
Both of them go to the luncheons, play cards and just socialize with other people there.
JoAnn believes keeping Barry active helps keep the disease at bay and she disagrees with others who sit their loved ones in a chair in a corner once they’re diagnosed.
“He still has a lot of life to live,” she said.
References
- ^ RELATED: How to help Alzheimer's patients cope with the holidays (www.vindy.com)
- ^ Denise Dick (www.vindy.com)
- ^ denise_dick@vindy.com (www.vindy.com)
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