isearch-why

Isearch “WHY”
I have a weak spot in my heart for my grandpa Henry. When my sister Jodi and I were growing up, we would spend weekends at my grandparent’s house. My grandpa had two horses and a barn. He loved to ride and take care of the horses. If you knew him, you knew that horses were his first love before my grandma ever came around. He taught us to ride the horses and to properly groom them too. His favorite use of his time was to be spending it with his horses. When there was work to be done at his business, “The Uncle Henry’s,” he would be busy getting his ad booklet work done first. He was a hard worker and a kind and gentle man. I never saw him get angry about anything or yell in frustration even once. To tell the truth, I don’t know how he ever remained that calm all the time. He has more patience than I could ever have, that’s for sure. All the great times spent with them over the years makes me very proud to be his granddaughter. I am also proud of his business success with the Village Print Shop turning into the famous, The Uncle Henry’s Swap or Sell it Guide. He has been a role model for me most of my childhood and into adulthood. When my father abandoned my mother and hurt my sister and I, my grandpa was there to play the role of “father” when I needed one in my life. He was never a negative influence to me, always the responsible and positive role model I needed to look up to.
The moment I heard the diagnosis “Alzheimer’s disease” and “grandpa” in the same sentence, I was devastated. It took a while for it to reality to sink in for me. I was in denial for a period of time after the diagnosis. My whole family was in mourning for grandpy but he hadn’t even had a chance to progress in the disease yet. I can’t understand why for the last five years the family has been ignoring it, and pretending all is well. I have to ask my grandmother about him and how he is doing when I talk to her on the phone. Though she says he has been doing fine, I have a hard time believing that when my mom told me he fell recently and hit his head. He doesn’t remember medications anymore and is completely reliable on my grandma for everything now. It hurts to see him like this; he used to be so strong and would never accept help from anyone before the diagnosis. I am hoping for a miracle cure to help my grandfather cope with this serious illness. To get me through another day, I have to tell myself there will one day be a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and forms of dementia. I continue to pray for grandpy and for grandma too, so they will both have the strength to fight to the end if necessary. I will fight as hard as I have to help them. They have done so much for me and my family; I could never be enough to repay them for their ultimate kindness over my lifetime.
After we first learned of this tragedy, I started to research what there was for resources in the community. I looked in the local paper and the internet and found some self-help support groups that focused on helping educate family and friends of Alzheimer patients. My grandma, mom, sister and I attended one of the listed support groups. It was held at a nursing home that specialized in caring for Alzheimer’s patients. The group organizer was a nurse that worked in a unit in the nursing home. She had firsthand experience dealing with patients of Alzheimer’s and had considerable knowledge on the subject. My family was also able to see some patient’s that had the disease and some of the different stages of the disease. Some were mild and some were very aggressive, hitting and punching the nurses on the floor. It really scared me when I was able to see what it may be like for my family when this dreaded stage comes. I am determined to help in any way possible. I want to know the best medications for him to be taking (to slow the progression down) and to watch out for the warning signs of the disease rapidly progressing. Taking a proactive part in my grandfather’s illness and doing the important things to help him, gives me great satisfaction. I love him very much and he needs as much help as he can get. Alzheimer’s disease is rapidly growing to the number one killer of seniors today. We need to work harder to find a cure and stop the deaths of many loved ones. I believe in giving the most of ourselves to define who we really are.