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L NEWS : This disease 1S truly evil: Milton woman shdres her father's story during Alzheimer's Awareness Month MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@miltoncanadian- champion.com For more than a decade, the mind of Anne Mur- dock's father has been held hostage by a silent, degen- erative captor. " As the days, weeks and months have rolled by, the Milton woman has watched 'her dad's condi- tion deteriorate from mild disorientation to one where he no longer speaks, wears diapers and is barely able to feed himself. That's how Alzheimer's disease operates, slowly robbing a person of their abilities and memory, much" to their loved ones' dismay. "This disease is truly evil, and it has no boundar- ies)" said Murdock. "It's * something I would never wish upon anyone." January was Alzheim- er's Awareness Month, and on the heels of this month- long observance, the local mother of two shared her family's experience coping with the devastating condi- tion that's becoming in- creasingly common. Murdock's father, Don- ald Woodbury, was diag- nosed with Alzheimer's quite young, merely in his late 50s - the same condi- tion that claimed his own father's life in his 90s. Early symptoms began showing up when he was about 56 or 57 years old, said Murdock, but the big warning sign came one day SALES STAFF RIE STR when her mother, "Carol, « received an ~~ alarming phone call from one of her husband's favourite funch ' spots, the Mandarin.' "They said, 'Your hus- band is in the parking lot and he doesn't know the way home," recalled Mur- dock. : : Carol cared for Wood- bury at home for as long as she could, with" Murdock helping out as much as pos- sible, until he reached a point where he was becom- ing aggressive and needed physical help to get on the toilet. After home care options didn't pan out as hoped, Woodbury's name was put on along wait list for nurs- ing home care, which he fi- nally received three years ago. It was at this point that Murdock found out -she was expecting her second child. : "It was really hard being pregnant, going to spend time with my dad, working 40 hours a week in retail management and taking care of my older daughter," she said. All the while, Murdock has also been wrestling with some . very difficult emotions that come along with seeing her father suf- fer. She recalls a time as a young girl when she and her dad were out yardsal- ing and they stopped by a rummage sale at a nursing home. : "He said, 'Anne, if I ever LB 1M EOF, ras GRR TER get to that point, I don't want to continue on," she said. "I would -almost like my. dad to pass, only be- cause I know for a fact he never would've wanted to live this way. This is such a hard disease; it's very emo- tionally draining." Now 76 years old, Wood- bury has had Alzheimer's for more than 15 years. Murdock said she feels that he's reaching the last stag- es of the disease and may soon have to be put on an assisted eating program with pureed foods. "We visit him and sit with him, but he can no longer speak," she said. "He still somewhat knows my mom and I, but I don't think he recognizes my children. You just need to have a lot of love and a lot of pa-| tience." Through these chal- lenging times, Murdock has turned to her husband and mother for support, along with Facebook groups dedicated to local families coping with Alz- heimer's. The fact that Alzheim- er's can be hereditary weighs on Murdock's mind and has led her to proac- tively create her own mem- ory books and do activities that "work out" her brain. "You never know what's going to happen, so just be aware of yourself and your parents," she said. "Pay at- tention if you notice they're not remembering certain stories that they would TRA nye Pl FIC $i 'never forget." ~~ Murdock isn't alone in her worries. According to survey results recently re- leased by the Alzheimer Society of Hamilton Hal- ton, 56 per cent of Canadi- ans are worried about be- ing affected by the disease. The greatest concerns are: being a burden to others, losing independence and the inability to recognize family and friends. Today, over half a mil- lion Canadians have de- mentia, including Alz- heimer's disease, says the society - a number that is expected to rise to more than 900,000 in less than 15 ) an Alzheimer's experience years. To coincide with Alz- heimer's Awareness Month, the organization has kicked off its new so- cial awareness campaign entitled, 'T live with-demen- tia. Let me help you under- stand' to spark conversa- tions and encourage others to see dementia differently as stigma and negative atti- tudes on the topic persist. "The public needs to know that having a diagno- sis of dementia doesn't mean life is over," said Ka- ren Robins, public educa- tion co-ordinator with the Alzheimer Society of Ham- ilton Halton. Anne Murdock photo Milton resident Anne Murdock visits with her father Donald Woodbury, who \ suffers from Alzheimer's disease. \ ' Ly . Memory loss affecting day-to-day abilities - Difficulty performing familiar tasks : * Problems with language + Disorientation in time and space * Impaired judgment * Problems with abstract thinking * Misplacing things + Changes in mood and behaviour Changes in personality + Loss of initiative "Yes, things will be dif- ferent, but different doesn't have to be as scary as we think." For more - information visit ilivewithdementia:ca. EXPECT gL0z 'L Auenugad 'Aepsiny) | uojdwey) ueipeued uo | = Wwo2 uoyjjeyapisul