CYBERSPACE REPORT # 19- JULY 23rd, 1998

The other day I was down visiting my sister, who has been diagnosed as having, Alzheimer's disease and is now a resident of the Heritage Nursing Home in Elroy. And there was this charming seven or eight year old little girl there with her mother and grandmother visiting her grandfather who was also a resident there.

During conversation between the grandmother and her daughter there was some reference made about some relative having recently given birth to a new baby. When out of the blue this little girl spoke up and asked this question. "WHO HAD GOD?" Her mother replied by saying, " Honey, none of us know the answer to that question but maybe some day when you get to heaven you can ask Him."

I kind of liked the way the mother handled the question and it got me to thinking. Here I was in a nursing home surrounded by a large number of the residents who are here because they are unable to take care of themselves in their senior years. So even though I am more than ten times older than the charming young child who asked the question I can neither answer her question nor another one which has bothered me for years: WHY DO WE HAVE SICKNESS AND DISEASE?.

So I took these two questions to several search engines on the World Wide Web and it is surprising how many thousands of WEB pages have been devoted to both questions. I read of number of pages on both subjects but as each of us has our own personal opinions on subjects of this nature all I can say that there is a lot of interesting info out there if you have the time to sit down and read it.

There is so much that is LOVELY in this world, why must so many older people spend the remaining years of their life in institutions, not to their liking, where they fed, dressed, pottied and bathed like babies.

There are so may sickness and diseases out there that it would be impossible to cover them all but I would like to give a bit information to those who might have or think they may parents, friends or others with Alzheimer's disease. There are many WEB sites dealing with all aspects of this disease.

My sisters husband and family put her in this nursing home over three years ago when they felt they could not care for her adequately. About a year ago she was confined to a wheel chair and the past six months has had difficulty with her speech and her ability to recognize and know people even ones from her immediate family. Somedays are better or worse than others but she does have her good days and although the end results of this disease are devastating all we can do it take one day at a time.

But like the little girl at the beginning of this article. At age 79 I am still wondering WHO HAD GOD? and WHY IS THERE DISEASE AND SICKNESS? But until that day I guess the best we can do is to give those who are burdened with sickness and disease the best care possible always hoping someday the whole world will be free of the pain and misery of sickness and disease.

As you know this column is primarily to give you leads to WEB sites and information centers on different topics being discussed. So what I do is try and give you enough info so you will know whether the topic is of interest to you and then give you the URL or WEB site address that you can CLICK on for more information.

There is a HEALTHNET a site with a lot of good information at:
>http://www.alzheimers.com< the paragraphs came from that site..

"Currently, Alzheimer's disease cannot be diagnosed with 100 percent certainty until a brain autopsy after the person's death reveals the disease's characteristic anatomical abnormalities (neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques).

This uncertainty makes a difficult situation all the more distressing. The affected individual and all loved ones always wonder, "Is it really Alzheimer's?" A great deal rides on the answer to this question, and the possibility of a misdiagnosis can raise already-high anxiety levels even higher" They also have a bulletin board for sharing your thoughts with others..

Here is a report from a section of this site on

Former President Reagan's Alzheimer's Is Now Severe

Alzheimer's disease has robbed former President Ronald Reagan of most of his ability to speak, according to his son, Michael Reagan's new book, The City on a Hill: Fulfilling Ronald Reagan's Vision for America. "You can't really carry on a real conversation with him anymore," says the younger Reagan, who "tries to talk with him at the level he's at," which limits discussion to simple exchanges using the diminishing number of words the former President can still speak and understand.

In addition, as the elder Reagan passes from moderate to severe Alzheimer's, he no longer knows the names of family members. But his son says "he knows who we are." The former President smiles and has a twinkle in his eye when his son comes to see him. And recently, during a visit with his granddaughter, Ashley, he kissed her forehead. "He's aware of who is in the room," Michael Reagan said. He cannot "have a conversation, but he knows who we are. That's good enough for me." Physically, the former President is "like a rock," his son says. "He could cut firewood."

Caring for the former President is "tough," Michael Reagan explains. But he says Nancy Reagan is doing "all right." Source: Associated Press, September 5, 1997

ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION at:
>http://www.alz.org/<
Another very informative WEB page

"Alzheimer's disease (pronounced Alz'-hi-merz) is a progressive, degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. It was first described by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and has been diagnosed in millions of people ever since."

There is a section of this ALZHEIMERS ASSOCIATION'S site which provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about this devastating disease. Also elsewhere there is a page detailing list of "Frequently Used Terms" used in discussing Alzheimer’s disease. To help you better understand some of the jargon you might encounter, the ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION has developed an extensive glossary .

The ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION has a chapter at LaCrosse, Wisconsin that is associated with many nursing homes in this area. Just write or call for information. They have all types of help resources, help lines, info on latest drugs, where to go for financial help, etc. They cover the county's of LaCrosse, Monroe, Juneau, Crawford, Trempalau and Vernon in Wisconsin as well as Huston in Minnesota.

RIVERLAND CHAPTER
115 FIFTH AVENUE SOUTH Suite 421
LA CROSSE WI 54601

Phone: (608) 784-5011
Fax: (608) 784-4428
800: (800) 797-1656

Support groups are at:
All have area code (608) except as noted.
Elroy, Heritage Manor- Quarterly meetings - Jan Cleven -462-8491 Mauston, Juneau County Adult Center - 1:30pm -2nd Monday of month. Heidi Randall -847-9366. Sparta, Rolling Hills Nursing Home- 7:pm -3rd Thursday of month Julie LeRoy & Tracy Hayes -269-8800 Tomah, Tomah Health Care Center - 7:pm 1st Tuesday of month Terry Fleming - 372-3241 Tomah, V.A. Medical Center - 1:30pm 2nd Thursday of month Jean Calhoun -372-3971. Viroqua, Bethel Home - 1:pm 4th Monday of month- Julie Mills -637-2171 Outside of the Tri-county area: Prairie du Chien, United Methodist Church - 2:pm last Tuesday of month Carol Long 326-8488 Houston, MN. - Valley View Nursing Home 6:30pm last Tuesday of month Judy Munsen & Ion McMannion (507)896-3125 LaCrosse, Hillview Health Care Center - 1:15 last Wednesday of month Lynette Dettinger - 789-4800 LaCrosse, Bethany Riverside Nursing Home - 6pm - 3rd Tuesday of month Rhonda Olson - 796-8200 LaCrosse, Lakeview Health Center - Quarterly meetings Diane Peterson -786-1400 Arcadia, Franciscan Skemp Healthcare - 4:pm - 2nd Wed of month Cynthia Schultz - 323-3341.

There is also an important seminar "DEALING WITH CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR" on Thursday August 13th at Woven Hearts, Alternative Living Services 3141 E. Ave.South LaCrosse. Marcie Hintz, Executive Director of Riverland Chapter will be the presenter. More information phone 608-788-7730.

The following article came from this WEB site: