A young mom of a beautiful little chap was both grateful and upset. Yes, she was indeed thankful that her picture-perfect son was sweet, loving and in very good health. He was surrounded by loving parents and big sisters. But the mom confessed that despite having what appeared to be the wished-for family, there was a problem — her mother (aka the toddler’s grandma).
While other parents worried about grandparents spoiling their children, she was nervous about her son’s visits with his grandmother for an entirely different reason.
It seems that despite the grandma’s being on the youthful side of the baby-boomer generation, she was suffering from Alzheimer’s. So much so that she was living in an area assisted-living home, as the disease took more and more of her memory.
The young woman’s anxiety was not based on her mother’s interaction with the child. Rather it was the other residents. What if the child’s presence caused another resident to be upset? Would it create a problem for both her child and the patient? How would she explain to the boy that it wasn’t his fault but something called Alzheimer’s?
That’s just an example of how Alzheimer’s is one of those diseases that affects all generations of the patient’s life.
As the flood of baby boomers marches in lock-step into the senior days, they will inundate the healthcare industry. One of those challenges will be Alzheimer’s and how to deal with it both firsthand and as a family member.
The young mother confessed, “I don’t know if it’s because people are living longer or it it’s because of the food we’ve been eating or what.” She just knew that the joyous relationship of her son and her mom would never be as she had dreamed.
This Saturday two teams of young women and their male coaches will complete under the brutal Texas sun at the Cotton Bowl for the 8th annual BvB Dallas. The teams have been working out all summer in the sweltering temperatures not just to claim the win but to raise funds to beat the disease that has devastated their families.
If you aren’t headed to Colorado or Napa, drive on over to the Cotton Bowl. Kick off is 7:30 with an after-party with Empire Six following the handing over of the trophy. All they ask is a $25 donation.