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economist suntribune health thursday oct 17 2002 alzheimer families say long goodbye by lisa queen staff writer although peter and nancy otts elderly father is physically fit for his years they are mourning his passing its not his physical death they are grieving the brother and sister still enjoy visiting their father in the markham retirement home where he lives instead its the essence of their father they have lost to alzheimers disease with alzheimers im getting a sense you probably say goodbye to the person a long time before they depart its the long goodbye mr ott said i dont have the same conver sations i used to have with dad we the family have said goodbyes or were saying goodbye to dad in an intellectual way now were just enjoying being with him mr otts father herbert ott who turns 81 next month was diagnosed with alzheimers disease a couple of years ago however mr and ms ott believe he began exhibiting signs of the disease before his wife died five years ago they feel their mother who saw her own mother stricken by the horrible progression of dementia years before tried to shield them and their brother andrew from their fathers disease as difficult as it is to have a par ent fall victim to alzheimers dis ease mr and ms ott acknowledge their family has the most optimum conditions they could hope for unlike many victims of the disease their father remains goodnatured for mr and ms ott recognizing and admitting their fathers mental capacities were diminishing was difficult when they were growing up their father seemed bigger than life herbert ott a strapping man who stands sixfeet fourinches grew up in estonia after surviving the second world war he came to canada with nothing raised a family with his wife and worked as an electrical technician designing navigational compo nents on airplanes he was a pillar of strength in our family with him anything was possible everything was an adven ture to him ms ott said he had had huge physical strength he doesnt have the stam ina the way he used to but hes still very strong i think its hard to watch people disappear when they have been such huge huge figures with huge lives she and her brother first began noticing something was wrong staff photomike barrett peter ott and his sister nancy miss their fathers intellectual capabilities which have been diminished by alzheimers disease however they still enjoy taking him on outings from a longterm care home with their father when he would drive from his condo in ottawa to visit them in york region a trip that should have taken five hours took eight and their father couldnt account for the missing time they eventually arranged to have their fathers drivers licence taken away after he was involved in a fender bender and an unnerving experience where he called on his car phone to say he was lost as vehicles honked wildly in the back ground around him mr and ms ott also began to realize their fathers world was shrinking in my dads condo everything began to revolve around his chair in front of the tv mr ott said that seemed significant his world had condensed into one space after medical tests indicated their father was suffering from alzheimers disease mr and ms ott moved him to an estonian co op in toronto soon after their father needed medical attention and went to markham stouffville hospital staff there recognized the elder ly man could no longer live alone and explained their concerns to his son and daughter their first reac tion was to consider having their father move in with one of them but health experts made them real ize the difficulties ahead we talked to one family who had done that full time for four months but they said it felt more like four years mr ott said its a normal reaction to want to take your parent into your home but it is a huge disruption for you and for them with the help of markham stouffville hospital they were able to place their father in buckingham manor a longterm care home a short drive from ms otts stouffville home and mr otts markham home if you take him out it takes some time to get him settled when you bring him back because he forgets he lives there sometimes when hes down in the dining room he forgets how to get back to his room ms ott said you may not be able to talk to him about whats going on in the world today but you can talk to him about a lot of things his grandkids other tilings although their father has never discussed his fears about his dis ease with his children he did share them with a healthcare worker my dad had dealt with my grandmother when she was suf fering from dementia and now he was sitting on this precipice mr ott said he voiced his concerns to someone at markham stouffville hospital she said afterwards to us hes afraid heres this man hes survived the war he was afraid we want to make things good for him were now providing for him what he gave to us when we were young its not an obligation but a sense youre living up to the values he gave you their father who worked for the federal government receives a fair ly generous pension which covers the cost of his care but its not always that easy for alzheimer patients and their fami lies according to susan hart exec utive director of the alzheimer society of york region she warned die effects of alzheimers disease will challenge canadian society in coming years given the aging population more no known core alzheimers disease is a progressive degenerative and irreversible type of dementia the amount of damage created by the disease increases overtime there is no known cause or cure damage done to brain cells cant be repaired alzheimers disease causes gradual break down in the nerve cells of the brain the brain changes and no longer works the way it used to as a result victims are less able to make sense of information and send messages to their bodies they become unable to think remember understand or make decisions eventually patients become unable to look after themselves and will develop other illnesses such as pneumonia which may cause death the majority of victims are over age 65 although people as young as 30 have been diagnosed with the disease alzheimers disease affects men and women of all races religions and socio economic backgrounds alzheimers disease affects each patient differently symptoms include changes in behaviour emotion and mood over which the person loses control they may be sad happy or angry inappropriately or become suspicious of people close to them their mental abilities such as memory or ability to learn new things diminish physical abili ties also decrease over time there is no simple test for alzheimers dis ease the only sure way of knowing for sure someone has the disease is by examining brain cells after death when doctors are trying to find out if someone has the disease they will first determine whether there is a treatable cause such as depression or thyroid dis ease that could be the reason for changes in behaviour than 30 per cent of canadians over the age of 80 will be diagnosed with the disease by 2031 ms hart said 19000 york region residents will suffer from some sort of dementia including 6700 with alzheimers disease the impact on society will be enormous ms hart said the num ber of senior citizens acting as pri mary caregivers to elderly parents suffering from dementia will sky rocket over the next three decades on nov 7 the societys second annual symposium at the sheraton parkway hotel in richmond hill will look at issues related to dementia and alzheimers disease workshops will focus on diag nosis and treatment of early alzheimers disease dementia and the law and enhancing communi cation for alzheimer patients for more information about alzheimers and the conference call 9058951337 finemome furnishings mlsalei 4747 highway 7 east east of kennedy in markham tel 905 4775524 wwwalmiracom salesalmiracom store hours mon wed 10 am 6 pm thufri 10 am 9 pm saturday 1 0 am 530 pm sunday closed