“There’s a Theif Running Loose In My Head…” An Alzheimer’s Disease & Caregivers Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ghpBdxX0F0&feature=youtube_gdata

Here is my work cited for my video

HBO Documentaries: The Alzheimer’s Project. HBO. 2012. 13 March 2012. Televison.

Alzheimer’s Reading Room. Alzheimer’s Caregivers Overwhelmed and Stressed Does Anyone Care? 2010. Web. 13 March 2012.

Davidson, Gray-Frena “Help I’m Going Crazy!” –Caring for the Caregiver. Alzheimer’s Sourcebook for Caregivers a Practical Guide for Getting Through the Day. Chicago: Lowell House, 1999. Page 183-185. Ebscohost.com. Web. 13 March .2012.

Zarit, H. Steven, Nancy K. Orr, and Judy M. Zarit. The Hidden Victims of Alzheimer’s Disease Families Under Stress. USA: New York University, 1985. Print.

Courtice, Katie. Alzheimer’s Disease A Guide for Families. Ed. Lenore S.Powell. USA. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1983, 1986. Print.

Anderson, Gayle. Health Education Development System Inc. and Cooperative Health Education Program. Baltimore. Health Professions Press Inc. 1995. Print.

Martin, A. Gary, Marwan N. Sabbagh.eds. Palliative Care for Advanced Alzheimer’s and Dementia Guidelines and Standards for Evidence-Based Care New York. Springer Publishing Company, 2011. Print.

Dobrof, Rose. Ed. Social Work and Alzheimer’s disease: Practice Issues with Victims and Their Families. 1986. The Haworth Press. New York. London.1986.

http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp

Pictures:

African American woman giving medicine to mother http://www.medsignals.com/images/caregiver_02.jpg

African American woman caregiver http://www.allabouthomecareinri.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/caregiver3.jpg

Brain http://www.alz.org/braintour/images/alzheimer_brain.jpg

Alois Alzheimer http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uoiq0S3eA0o/TW7ryMPo8sI/AAAAAAAAAJc/wuLJGd7RktM/s1600/alzheimer.jpg

The Cosby Show family http://www.carseywerner.net/images/cosbyshow_main_max.jpg

Steel Magnolias http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7R8b_r7fD1M/TCT4PXaHI6I/AAAAAAAAAUE/04EG9lPegsM/s400/steel-magnolias.jpg

Alzheimer’s ribbon http://www.sparkletags.com/import/graphics/Awareness/alzheimers-awareness-ribbon.png

My great grandma’s funeral http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.143121629056123.19015.100000748597425&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=143375269030759&set=a.143121629056123.19015.100000748597425&type=3&theater

My great grandmother http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.159223077445978.33313.100000748597425&type=3#!/photo.php?fbidhttp://www.facebook.com/media/set/?

My grandma http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.159223077445978.33313.100000748597425&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=227770700591215&set=a.159223077445978.33313.100000748597425&type=3&theater

Music: “I’m Not Me Anymore” By Jerry Lansdowne

“Dreaming of a Broke Heart” By John Mayer Acoustic version by RedStrat

“Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone” By Bill Withers

Find a text….

http://www.alz.org/living_with_alzheimers_caring_for_alzheimers.asp

 

1. The author of this text chose this audience because this text talks about the experience of being a caregiver of someone with AD.

2. I can tell the audience is chosen because the title of the text is caring for Alzheimer’s.

3. They approach the audience by talking about three different stages daily care,behaviors,and coping and then goes on to talk about the different ideas with each category.

Video Inspiration

http://www.hbo.com/alzheimers/caregivers.html

Post for 3/27/12

As I look over my portfolio two I think I did a pretty decent job, my annotated bib and review of lit fulfilled the purpose of what we were suppose to do I followed the instructions very throughly. If I were to give myself a grad I think I would give myself a B.

Post for 3/20/12

I want to talk about Alzheimer’s caregivers and how taking care of a person with AD affects their health physical,mentally, and emotionally.

Blogging…

Wow. I haven’t blogged in FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I should really get back to doing this.Lol.

Another Annotated Bib…

Caring for People with Alzheimer’s Disease A Training Manual for Direct Care Providers

Summary: People with Alzheimer’s disease are usually cared for by a certified nurse or a nursing home staff. But majority of the patients are taken cared of at home by family members. Close relatives most of the time do not live nearby to help assist with the care. When a caretaker does not have much help with the patient it can be a huge burden on their shoulders.

Asset: This source discusses how caring for families and caring done by staff differ. They list emotions on how a staff or family may feel towards the Alzheimer’s patient. Also they provide tips and suggestions on how to properly care for the patient. I found this source very useful because it actually offered tips on how you can deal with Alzheimer’s patients and how you can take care of them in a better way. It also can relate to those who are caregivers and how stressful it can be on them. The source comes from a professional point view from people who work with this disease and do research on it.

Reflect: In the book they talked about how “some caregivers are too embarrassed by the behavior of the person with Alzheimer’s” (Anderson 118). I can relate to this statement because when my mom started to take care of my grandmother I was about eight years of age. But as I got older and went to middle school I started to become embarrassed by my grandmother. We would have to take her everywhere with us to the mall, grocery store etc. She used to wander around the house and out in public places. I used to be so embarrassed when I was younger.

Anderson, Gayle. Health Education Development System Inc. and Cooperative Health Education Program. Baltimore. Health Professions Press Inc. 1995. Print.

Annotation

Summary:According to Social and Alzheimer’s Disease Practic Issues with Victims and Their Familes Alzheimers disease can cause huge affects on all family members. Speaking from experience when a loved one is first diagonsed with the disease the family is in denial. My family and I thought this had to be some type of mistake we were so used to my grandma being the independent woman she was. It was very difficult for my family to grasp onto this shocking diagnosis.  As the disease starts to dwell the love one away its hard for the family espccially the cargiver to cope with this. The cargiver themselves start to have all kinds of feelings such as frustration, depression, loneliness, anger, and guilt. All these feelings I have experienced my mom go through. As the disease increases the more dependent the person becomes and its as if you are being a parent to your parent. Since the disease is unknown and there is no cure for the disease this puts fear onto the family and the caregiver you start to wonder is this diease hereditary.

 

Asset: This source is very useful it is stated how Alzhemiers disease not only affects the person who has it but their family as a whole. From financial issues, to who is going to the primary caregiver, to the cargiver becomming sick due to taking care of Alzhemiers patient. Its a plethora of situationst that comes along with this disease.  It sort of like a package deal. You know how when you were little and you had a doll house and all the furniture and the dolls but before you could put the furniture in the house you had to build it. Thats almost similar to a person with Alzhemiers. You want to be the caregiver for this person but you have know are you gonna be able to afford it? Are you ready to take on the emotional and mental and physical turmoil that comes along with being a caregiver?

Reflect: I was I would have went to my local library at home and read more books about Alzhemiers. These books have so much information and they hit the nail right on the head with how exactly it feels to deal with a loved one that has Alzhemiers. I’ve never felt like anyone understood what it was really like for me to help my mom take care of my grandma. I think people  would hear me when I said “Oh yeah I help my mom take care of my grandma its really hard.” But I dont think they fully and truely understood how serious I was.

 

Dobrof, Rose. Ed. Social Work and Alzheimer’s Disease: Practice Issues With Victimes and Their Families. 1986. The Haworth Press. New York. London.1986.

Research Proposal…

The topic I want to discuss is Alzheimer’s care takers. The topic is very close to me and personal. It is hard to talk about with some people so only a few select people know about my grandmothers. My great grandmother had Alzheimer’s disease after the retired from her job at a local factory in Tennessee. My great aunt took care of my great grandmother for fifteen years. The disease came unexpected and went from her just simply forgetting small things to her not talking at all. She was bed redden and had to be fed through a feeding tube. Last year in July she passed away at age ninety-six. She had a UTI and this was common since she was bed redden, so we figured she would go in and come right back out. My aunt called my mother later on that day and somehow my grandma had caught ammonia and died. My mother’s mom had the disease as well. She also caught the disease after she retired from her job. When I was eight we went home to Tennessee for a whole month of my summer vacation. My mom’s older brother had been calling her telling her something wasn’t right about their mother. The town is small so everyone knew my grandma and they could tell something was wrong with her. My mother and I spent thirty days at my grandma’s house where my mom observed my grandmother. My mom knew something was wrong with grandma when one day my grandma had some cornbread in the oven. Instead of reaching for the oven mitt my grandma opens the oven and is about to stick her bare hand into the oven to get the pan out. Luckily my mom pushed her out the way before she could get her hand in the oven. To sum this story up after that incident my mother brought my grandma home with us to North Carolina. My mom quit her job as a teacher assistant at my elementary school. Now I was eight at the time and I didn’t really understand what was going on. But as I grew older and I went to middle school, and my grandmother was still living with us I notice her change. My grandma went from being this sassy, independent, talkative, small framed woman to not being able to bathe herself or fed herself. Soon my mom had to start putting my grandma in Depends and feeding her. We had to bathe her. Watch her carefully because she liked to wander. She would try to leave the house. More changes were to come, as I went to high school she was still living with us. She soon stopped talking as much and having a bed wetting problem. We had to hand give her her medicine. As you tell being an Alzheimer’s caretaker takes a great toll on your life. Your whole life changes and you have to become dedicated to this one person’s needs day and night. You are responsible for this person. I would like to research on how the Alzheimer’s disease affects families. Why aren’t there more support groups for this disease? Why isn’t the disease more publicize? More people need to know how serious this disease is. I’ve literally lived with this disease and helping my mom take care of my grandma since I was in the third grade till I graduated from high school. I have so many stories I probably could write a book. Maybe I will one day..

Drunk Driving Is Serious!!!

Speaking of drunk driving an young woman in my Political Science class, I believe she might be a mother. She hasn’t been to class in about a week today she returned but she was in a wheelchair. She told us that a drunk driver hit her and broke her leg. Also some damage has been done to her left foot but I didnt quite hear what she said. Her leg is in a cast and now she’s in a wheelchair. I felt so bad for her. She’s really nice. It just goes to show a freak accident can happen in a spilt second. It could have been worse. Im glad she’s ok.