Local residents share their experiences with Alzheimer's disease and invite others to walk with them at annual fundraiser
The Vail Daily is running testimonials leading up to the Rocky Mountain Walk to End Alzheimer's event at Brush Creek Park in Eagle on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Our mother, Lucy Davis, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2017. We started noticing symptoms several years earlier, however.
In the beginning, we thought her symptoms were the result of a traumatic brain injury. In 2005, she and our stepfather, Ron Davis, were in a horrible airplane accident. She flatlined twice, had only a small chance of survival and spent 10 days in an induced coma in the Intensive Care Unit. With her characteristic strength and determination, she recovered in the months following. Despite executive function decline and lapses in short-term memory, she was able to travel the world and lead a wonderful life.
In 2016 and 2017, our mom underwent the best medical evaluations available including multiple brain scans, revealing that she has two APOE 4 genes and Early Onset Frontal Lobe Dementia. To add to the complexity of the disease, we later realized that she also has anosognosia, a neurological condition in which the patient is unaware of their neurological deficit.
To mitigate the confusion she inherently felt, she self-soothed with alcohol, which further exacerbated her condition. Our grandfather, who had served in the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army during World War II, had suffered and perished from Alzheimer's two decades earlier. With the genetic component, alcohol and brain injury, she had three factors contributing to her dementia.
We are fortunate to have the ability to provide excellent care for our mother. We tried everything we could, including consistent monitoring, occupational therapy and in-home care. For three years, our dear friends, Richard and Shelia Norris, were full-time, live-in caregivers. After much heartbreak and discussion motivated by what was best for our mom, we collectively decided that she needed a safer environment than we could provide her at home. She has been in a Memory Care unit for four years in the greater Denver area.
There is no easy way to care for a loved one with dementia. It creates unique challenges for a family to decide how to provide the best love, care and safety. Even though it's challenging to visit her in a nursing home, feel the pain of a long goodbye and watch her decline slowly, we find solace in knowing that she is treated by medical professionals who specialize in dementia patients.
We appreciate the support of our family, friends, community and medical professionals. It hasn't been easy, and we've had our struggles, but the team approach we have taken and standing together has been critical. In doing so, we can discuss each progressing phase and figure out how to respond when new issues arise. When the stress of our mom's situation causes conflict between us as sisters, we remind ourselves that this is hard, to take care of ourselves and each other and that the goal is to be there for mom.
Caring for a loved one with dementia requires a lot of resources, and that's why we support the Alzheimer's Association. The organization provides invaluable free education and support for families afflicted by this tragic disease and works on innovations in technology and medicine to eradicate it.
Together, we are walking in the Rocky Mountain Walk to End Alzheimer's in Eagle County at Brush Creek Park and Pavilion on Sept. 21. Registration starts at 9 a.m. and the walk is at 10 a.m. We look forward to walking in strength and unity to support one another as a community and raise funds for the Alzheimer's Association. If you'd like to join us, please join our team, Team Lucy. You can also start your own team or walk as an individual by going to act.alz.org/rockymountain. To volunteer for the event or to become a sponsor, please contact Melinda Gladitsch at 970-471-0175 or [email protected]. Together we can end Alzheimer's.