Lost pasts, broken lives

Alzheimer's: In January, PBS broadcast its heart-rending documentary, "The Forgetting — A Portrait of Alzheimer's," about the debilitating disease that affects about 20,000 in Hawai'i and about 5 million nationwide. Its recent victims included the late President Ronald Reagan.

Students who viewed the documentary wrote contest essays about how Alzheimer's touched them, and six winners each won $500. Here's what three had to say. Excerpts from other essays will be published in August.

By Robert Fusato
Senior, Maui High School

Isabelle McKenna, right, is held by her daughter Maureen. The family is featured in "The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's." Twin Cities Public Television Tips for taking care of someone with Alzheimer's Talk with your doctor about how caregiving is affecting your health. Your doctor may be able to provide helpful suggestions. Allow others to help you. Ask family and friends for specific help, and accept the help they offer. Learn to take care of yourself. You deserve time to relax, socialize and get much-needed rest. Contact the Senior Hotline, 523-4545, to learn about other resources. Source: Honolulu Elderly Affairs Division 'The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's' 8 p.m. Aug. 19 PBS 'Caring for Your Family, Caring for Yourself: A Caregiver's Conference' 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 10 Sheraton Waikiki $25 for family caregivers ($50 professionals, students) 523-4545 Download applications from elderlyaffairs.com Register by June 25

Initially, I was sad he had forgotten, but things were even worse for my parents, especially Dad. Grandpa thought Dad was his older brother, so he'd often call my dad "aniki," which means "older brother" in Japanese. I'm sure it must've been difficult for my dad to deal with the fact his own father didn't remember him.

I soon discovered my grandpa required special observation. I remember one day returning home from school to find he had left the house. My family and I spent the rest of the afternoon searching for him. Fortunately, we eventually found him. There were many similar incidents; Grandpa seemed to deliberately ignore our admonitions.

Frustrated, I just began to ignore my grandfather.

After watching "The Forgetting," a special about Alzheim-er's, I learned some new things about Alzheimer's. Before the special, I only knew that it made people lose their memory. I had absolutely no idea how the process took place.

"The Forgetting" taught me Alzheimer's is a disorder that causes an overproduction of a protein called beta-amyloid that destroys the synapses in the brain.

Through the Alzheimer's special, I was able to learn a few lessons. For instance, I learned Alzheimer's eventually results in death. More importantly, I learned people with Alzheimer's now have reason to hope.

With the creation of the Pittsburgh Compound (an injectable dye that allows researchers to track changes inside a living brain), medical research will be able to advance at an unprecedented pace. A cure could be at hand, and a vaccine already has been tested.

However, development would be even faster if more money was appropriated for Alzheimer's research.

In some ways, I think the person with Alzheimer's has it easy. It's the family and friends who are going to be hit the hardest. For people going through this type of crisis, I would try to encourage them by reminding them that there is hope; a breakthrough could happen tomorrow. I also would teach them everything I know about the disease and what to expect. Then the person wouldn't feel like they were wandering in the dark. However, the best thing I could do would be to be a good friend.

FUSATO

Unfortunately, Grandpa died last year, so I will never have the opportunity to make amends. However, should another family member or friend ever become diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I will treat them as the person I remember, even though they may have forgotten.

Granny's condition is reminder to 'never take life for granted'

By Chant'e Dupree
Junior, Lanai High School

Ever since I can remember, my great-grandmother has had Alzheimer's, and her condition has continued to deteriorate. I've always remembered her lack of memory.

I never really understood why she couldn't retain certain information. I would lean over to give her a welcoming hug and ask her how she was doing. It would be almost like she had no emotions. She wouldn't even know how she was doing; whether she was happy, sad or frustrated, she would have no clue.

Each time I would ask her how old she was, she would slowly reply, "Oh ... I don't know."

That was always her answer, whether I asked her about her age, the date, what she did that day; she just didn't know. Recently, upon a visit, I inquired about her age, and she surprisingly gave an age, but it was 10 years off. She thinks she's 102; she's only 92.

I showed her a couple pictures of herself, and she asked me who the lady in the picture was. I am still surprised by her actions. I remember the first time she forgot who I was. She looked at me, when I was only 8 years old, and asked, "What are you doing in my house?" I replied, "I'm your great-granddaughter, Granny." I cried when she forgot me like that; I didn't know any better.

My grandma used to house my Granny. She would force her to eat at meals and to take a bath. It was almost like Granny was a little kid. Granny used to tell us, "That mean lady over there," referring to my grandma, "She can't be my daughter." It used to make my dad and I laugh when she told us that.

When Granny used to baby-sit my younger brother and me ... we would ask her for permission to eat candy; she would reply yes. Then, when we were done eating, we would quickly ask for another candy; she consented without remembering she had just let us have one five minutes earlier.

In viewing this video, I realized how much this disease can affect one's life. I always knew Alzheimer's was the loss of memory, but I never understood all of the details. Now I realize this disease has robbed so many individuals, as well as their families and loved ones. I didn't know there wasn't a cure for the deadly disease, and no way to prevent it from happening.

Everyone is susceptible to being the next victim. Those people who are the disease's next prey can only leave their lives in the hands of those working on a cure.

Looking back, I wish I wouldn't have played with my Granny's memory. Even though I didn't know what was going on, I still regret tampering with the recollection of her scarce memory.

From the video, I also learned to take care of those that I love and spend as much time with them as possible. I used to visit my Granny almost every day.

Now that I've grown older, my schedule is tighter, and it is hard to visit even once a month. I know she doesn't have that much longer to live and I know I will regret the times I could've spent with her.

The greatest lesson I learned is to never take life for granted, because something can happen to it at any moment. People too often deceive themselves into believing "it could never happen to me."

But it can, and this disease does not sympathize with anyone.

I live my life day to day, remembering everything I do. And when I have those rare moments of "what is her name again?" or "where did I see that before?," it upsets me that I can't remember.

I can only imagine what those with this disease are going through. When I was younger, I never sympathized with my grandmother's disease.

I did not know what was going on, because it was still developing. Now, I comprehend the effects of this horrible illness and I take into consideration the things the patient is going through.

When I encounter anyone with this sickness, I will understand more clearly why the person acts as they do. And because of that, I will be able to work around their actions and help them out.

Since Granny started to become a "handful," my grandma had to place her in a nursing home.

But after viewing the problem, I realize there is more help out there than just a nursing home. There are studies that are taking place for this fatal disease, and soon I believe there will be a prevention.

Disease is often dismissed as normal for older people

By Veronic Pablo
Junior, Kapa'a High School

Alzheimer's disease is rarely heard of in today's society in comparison to cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.

The thing is, why do we rarely hear about Alzheimer's when it has affected so many individuals and their families?

Unfortunately, the only answer I can think of is that when a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, he or she is old, and we as a society tend to forget about the elderly. We associate memory loss with age and think it's normal, so Alzheimer's could be a disease simply overlooked.

About 10 years ago, my family was devastated when my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

My grandpa lived in a long-term care hospital because my grandma was unable to care for him; and so that I could see my grandpa regularly, I began to do volunteer work there.

Everyone tried to make my grandpa's life as normal as possible, but it was very difficult to see my grandpa so confused and unable to recognize us.

Volunteering enabled me to watch the various stages of Alzheimer's. Not only was I able to witness the effects it had on my grandpa, but also on some of the other long-term patients. I noticed the disease made it look as if they were physically there but mentally gone. Sadly, about three months ago, my family suffered a great loss when he died.

The first televised program I have watched about Alzheimer's was "The Forgetting."

If my grandpa had not been diagnosed with this disease I think I would be pretty oblivious to it. Before watching the documentary I knew Alzheimer's was a disease that caused people to lose their memory and I knew about some of the effects the disease had on them, but I was pretty naive to the disease as a whole.

After watching "The Forgetting," I learned three important lessons. First, research for a cure has come a very long way, and soon medication or treatment will be available to the public. Second, it's hard to believe that from diagnosis to death, the disease can last anywhere from 8 to 20 years. And third, the effect Alzheimer's has on the brain and body is truly amazing.

The documentary made me understand why Alzheimer's patients act the way they do. This is a disease that not only affects the patient, but also the people around them. It hasn't changed how I would respond to a loved one with the disease, but it has expanded the amount of patience and tolerance I would have for them.

This documentary taught me someone with Alzheimer's needs our support, patience, understanding and a lot of love.

I think it's important for people to become more educated about the disease. Since there is still no definite cure, we all need to take part in the fight to find one.

Alzheimer's doesn't discriminate, and the next person that could be affected could be your parents, siblings, a close relative, a friend or even yourself.

Look for more essays in August, coinciding with PBS Hawai'i's re-broadcast of "The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's" at 8 p.m. on Aug. 19.